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Kayenta veterans clinic now the third location open on the Navajo Nation

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KAYENTA, Ariz.—Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the Kayenta Veterans Clinic on July 12.

The clinic is the third location to open on the Navajo Nation and the sixth Veterans Association clinic activated in northeastern Arizona since 2010.

Operating for one day a week, the new clinic will extend to five days per week as utilization grows, providing primary care, mental health, and limited specialty services.

Enrollment and eligibility services will also be provided.

Vice President Nez viewed the facilities and state-of-the-art medical equipment, which provide extended service via tele-health services. Cameras and monitoring devices provide primary care physicians from other locations a bird’s-eye view of veteran patients at the clinic.

“During our campaign, we made a commitment that the first of our four pillars would be our Navajo Veterans. It is an exciting moment for the Begaye-Nez administration to open this clinic,” Nez said.

“Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and I are ecstatic that this clinic will serve up to 400 veterans,” the vice president said.

There were many partners who worked diligently through this process, including the Northern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System, Veteran Administration Office of Rural Health, and the Navajo Area Office of Indian Health Services.

“We thank all who were involved in this effort,” Nez said.

“We hope someday to have a VA hospital here on the Navajo Nation,” President Begaye said during the signing of the Navajo Nation Veterans Act in February 2016. “A hospital to serve our Navajo veterans.”

“Opening a VA clinic like the one in Kayenta is a first step toward the future vision of having a hospital to serve our Navajo veterans, and we hope to have more of these facilities,” Begaye said.

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