Greene County makes federal list for Veterans Center

According to a joint announcement last week by southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt and U.S. Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, no county site has been selected. Blunt spokesman Dan Wadlington said that announcement is expected next summer.

No details on the bid schedule were available.

“This long overdue center will serve the growing number of combat veterans who come home after having honorably served our country,” Blunt said in the release. “This facility will provide our veterans and their families the best service available – services they deserve – and I’m glad they’ll be so close to home.”

The VA offers counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder in Springfield through a contract with Michael David Murrell of Murrell Psychological Service LLC at no cost to veterans. That arrangement may not be impacted by the new VA center, the release said.

The existing 232 VA centers conduct community outreach to offer counseling on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family members as well as bereavement counseling for families of service members killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were sexually harassed on active duty. They are staffed by small teams of professional counselors and social workers, many of whom were combat veterans.

Missouri has three existing centers in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The Veterans Affairs Department announced in May that it planned to open a VA clinic in Branson.