Veterans in the Missoula, Montana area will begin receiving care in the new, state-of-the-art David J. Thatcher VA Clinic on Feb. 1.
The clinic is named in honor of Montanan and Army Air Corps tail gunner David J. Thatcher who was part of the legendary Doolittle Raid.
“Our goal is that every veteran who walks through these doors finds strength, courage, health and healing in this clinic,” said Executive Director Dr. Judy Hayman in a VA blog post.
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Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Thatcher volunteered to serve as a tail gunner for a high-risk mission to attack targets deep within Japanese-controlled territory known as the Doolittle Raid.
After finishing the April 1942 bombing mission and running low on fuel, Thatcher’s aircraft crash-landed near the coast of China. Thatcher was instrumental in caring for his seriously injured group and in helping them reach safety. For his actions, he was awarded the Silver Star.
The actor Robert Walker portrayed Thatcher in “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.”
After the war, Thatcher embarked on a career with the Postal Service and married his sweetheart, Dawn. Their marriage spanned seven decades until he died in June 2016 at age 94. Dawn Thatcher died in May 2020.
The $9 million clinic is three times larger than its former Palmer Street location. The clinic is 60,000 square feet, spans eight acres, and can serve up to 9,000 veterans, according to the blog post.
The clinic is in one fully connected space and is designed around VA’s integrated PACT (Patient Align Care Team) model, according to the blog post. Veterans will meet with multiple providers based out of a single appointment room.
Veterans will also have access to new and expanded services, such as physical therapy, general radiology, tele-retinal and tele-audiology services, and laboratory services. The clinic includes endocrinology, cardiology, prosthetics, sleep medicine, support for homeless veterans and home-based primary care.
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Dedicated meeting spaces at the clinic will help veterans connect to peer support groups and other classes including healthy living and PTSD support. Veterans may access support for disability compensation claims, pension information, and education and employment benefits at the clinic’s on-site Veterans Benefit Administration offices.
A grand opening ceremony for the new clinic was held on Jan. 28
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.