When the VA clinic in Meadville closed last November, localveterans turned to the Natchez clinic and the hospital in Jacksonfor treatment – about a 100-mile round trip either way.

Brookhaven’s Paul Jackson, an 85-year-old veteran of World War II,chose the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center inJackson.

“I went in July for my yearly checkup. The doctor was real nice,the nurse was real nice and everything went real good – the onlything about it is it’s a long drive home,” he said.

Before Christmas, Jackson and hundreds of other local veterans willbe able to cut their trips down to 23 miles, one-way, when a newVeterans Affairs clinic opens in McComb.

Renovations to a 3,500 square-foot former doctor’s office at 1308Harrison Ave. – about two blocks from Southwest Mississippi MedicalCenter – have begun. The clinic is expected to open on or beforeDec. 15, said Charles Robbins, Jr., senior executive vice presidentof CR Associates, Inc.

“It definitely won’t be after that,” said Robbins, whose company iscontracting with the VA to construct the clinic. “This is afast-track project, not a slow-moving machine. The VA gave us 90days to get this going.”

Robbins said the new clinic would be staffed with two doctors and asupport staff and will be stocked with the latest medicalequipment.

The building will have a “generous” waiting area, four exam rooms,a laboratory and a behavioral health department. For special needs,the clinic will have the ability to hold videoconferences withexperts at other medical centers.

The new clinic is expected to serve about 3,000 area veterans,Robbins said. When the Meadville clinic closed, “a few hundred”veterans transferred to the Natchez location, he said.

“There’s been some pressure to get this clinic open as soon aspossible,” Robbins said. “It will really fill a void.”

Mario Rossilli, a public affairs officer with the VA hospital inJackson, said veterans will be able to immediately transfer to theMcComb clinic as soon as it opens.

“That’s a very smooth process,” he said. “That will be very easilyaccomplished.”