VA opens fifth clinic for Clarksville Veterans

Set to open June 24, the Montgomery County VA Clinic located at 647 Dunlop Lane, Suite 102, increases Veterans’ access to primary care, mental health care, laboratory services, nutrition and dietitian care, social work support, and pharmaceutical consultation. Four patient aligned care teams, called PACT teams, will be housed at the new clinic.

“This is really a dream come true for the Clarksville area,” Dr. Nicole Salloum, TVHS Chief of Primary Care said. “When I first came into this role, we had just moved into the clinic on Weatherly Drive [Clarksville VA Clinic] and quickly realized that that clinic was not big enough to meet the needs of our Veterans.”

Montgomery County is the fastest growing market for Veteran health care in Tennessee, thanks to Fort Campbell Army Post which is situated on the Tennessee and Kentucky state line. 

According to VA market assessment data, the Veteran population is projected to grow by 12.6% over the next 10 years. The enrollment rate at VA is expected to grow by 41% – or 39,500+ patients – through 2035. Approximately 28,000 Veterans are currently enrolled at a VA clinic in Montgomery County with women Veterans accounting for 19% of the enrollment population. 

The existing VA clinics in the county include the Clarksville VA Clinic, Dalton Drive VA Dental Clinic, and the Fort Campbell VA Clinic and Taylor VA Dental Clinic located on Fort Campbell Army Post. 

Dr. Kerri Fox, TVHS Interim Executive Director, explained the ongoing efforts are not just in Clarksville but across the Tennessee Valley region to meet patient demand. These efforts are part of a larger TVHS initiative to enhance access to care, reduce patient travel, and lower wait times by expanding care. 

"[The Montgomery County VA Clinic is] Closer to home, closer to where they live, and will help reduce patients needing to make that drive all the way to the Nashville campus for much-needed primary and mental health care," Fox said.

Fox shared how the Montgomery County VA Clinic will serve as a vital measure for patient care until the highly anticipated Clarksville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic opens in 2030. 

Funded by the PACT Act, the Clarksville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic will offer Veterans primary care, mental health care, women’s health, and a variety of specialty services like audiology, cardiology, optometry, physical medicine, podiatry, pulmonology, radiology, urology, and integrative health services like chiropractic and acupuncture. The state-of-the-art facility will have 254,000 square feet of clinical space, making it nearly six times larger than the Clarksville VA Clinic on Weatherly Drive. 

In addition to the Clarksville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic, TVHS anticipates opening two more clinics by 2030 that were funded through the PACT Act – the Nashville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic and the Cookeville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic. Plans are also underway to construct multi-specialty VA clinics in Columbia, Tennessee and Bowling Green and Hopkinsville, Kentucky in the 2030s.

To stay informed of the latest construction updates and expansions, visit the TVHS website for more details.