Press Releases

PORTLAND, MAINE—This morning, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) joined U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Deputy Secretary Donald Remy and Portland Mayor Kate Snyder in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new, state-of-the-art Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). The 62,500-square-foot, $64 million clinic replaces the VA clinics on Fore Street in Portland and in Saco without disruption of care to veterans during the transition. The facility will serve more than 100,000 eligible Maine veterans and is designed to be a living monument to Maine veterans’ service, while also providing a wider range of services.  

“The new Portland Community Based Outpatient Clinic is a real recognition of service and a physical embodiment of the gratitude we owe to those who have sacrificed for us. I was honored to join Deputy Secretary Remy, Mayor Snyder, and VA officials today to celebrate the opening of this long-awaited and much-needed facility,” said Congresswoman Pingree, who is a member of the House Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriation Subcommittee. “I’m proud to have leadership opportunities in Congress that allow me to advocate for our veterans, and for funding that supports veterans’ care. As the doors of two clinics close, new ones will open on Monday bringing far more comprehensive and quality care to our veterans, and I’m overjoyed to have been able to help make that possible.”

“This new Portland clinic is about more than just expanded access for Veterans in this community—as fundamentally important as that is,” said VA Deputy Secretary Remy. “It is a model for clinics of the future. It’s about opening a space where we will fulfill our obligation and serve Vets as well as they’ve served us.”

“I’m delighted that veterans in our community will now have access to state-of-the-art healthcare services in Portland,” said Mayor Kate Snyder. “It is only fitting that after the sacrifices they’ve made and the service they’ve given to our country that they have access to the comprehensive services they need. I’m honored that I was able to help celebrate the opening. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make this day possible, and I’m proud that Portland is now the home of such a wonderful new facility,” Portland Mayor Kate Snyder. 

“It will be a beacon to the Veterans in Maine that will let them know, we are here, we care, and we’re ready to provide them the health care services they deserve in a facility that works for them,” said VA Maine Healthcare System Director Tracye Davis.

Others in attendance at today’s ceremony included VA Maine Healthcare System Director Tracye Davis, John Thomas, Associate Executive Director of Real Property John Thomas, and VA New England Healthcare System Director Ryan Lilly.

Click here for high resolution photos from the ceremony, which was livestreamed and can be watched here. 

Background:

Plans for VA Maine Healthcare System’s state-of-the-art, energy efficient outpatient clinic began in 2010 to address the need for expanded access for Southern Maine veterans, but because of technicalities in the way leases are approved, work on the Portland clinic expansion was delayed. Pingree, who sits on the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriation Subcommittee, and members of the Maine Delegation have been united in their efforts to authorize VA clinic leases. In 2017, legislation passed that approved leases for expanded VA clinics across the U.S., including one for CBOC. 

The 62,500-square-foot, $64 million clinic will replace the VA clinics in Saco and in Portland on Fore Street without disruption of care to Veterans during the transition. The clinic is designed to honor service, while also providing a wider range of services for veterans, including primary care, telehealth, home-based primary care, mental health, blood draw, and other specialty services. It’s estimated Portland CBOC will serve more than 100,000 eligible Maine veterans. The clinic will officially open to patients on Monday, February 14. 

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