11/11/09

WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) _ President Barack Obama has signed a law authorizing the Department of Veterans Affairs to build a new outpatient clinic at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash.

The VA has said it will spend $71.4 million to design and build
the clinic, which will serve veterans from Washington, Oregon and
Idaho.

Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who pushed to save the
Walla Walla center and helped approve money for the new clinic,
notes that just six years ago the VA proposed shutting it down.
Now, the hospital not only will remain open but will be modernized.
Murray says that's a victory for thousands of veterans.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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