JACKSON — The face of the country’s military has changed over the years with more diversity than ever before.
On Monday, the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Medical Center opened its Women Clinic, an area dedicated to primary care and gender-specific health care for female veterans.
For Army National Guard Sgt. Kaisha Cornelius, the clinic is long overdue. “I feel with the amount of females that’s been coming over (from deployment), we have a lot more women that will need care.”
A Clinton native and 17-year veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Cornelius said she has used the Jackson VA for several years now.
Dr. Jessie Spencer, the Women’s Health Medical director for the center, tells The Clarion-Ledger the new clinic will not only offer specific care for female veterans who come through the doors, but it will also enable better coordination with some of the outsourcing of patients.
The VA Medical Center in Jackson held a ceremony Monday to honor its female veterans and announce the opening of the clinic. In a packed hall with standing room only, local and national VA officials, along with politicians and several female veterans, celebrated the new clinic.
“Ladies, today is your day,” said Joe Battle, director of the VA Medical Center. “It is our charge that every eligible female veteran in Mississippi who wants to receive VA health care will have that opportunity.”
The VA hospital in Jackson services an area with more than 10,000 female veterans, said Battle. More than 2,300 female veterans use the VA as their primary source of health care.
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