Kitsap County veterans will soon have a new facility located in Silverdale that is easily accessible and provides services in the county that are currently unavailable. A groundbreaking ceremony for a new Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, April 2 at the site of the new clinic, 9177 Ridgetop Boulevard in Silverdale. Everyone is welcome to join in this momentous community occasion. Please RSVP to kmartin@fphmanagement.com. Parking will be available onsite.
Congressman Derek Kilmer, state representatives, county commissioners and other dignitaries, along with many local veterans' organizations and community partners, will participate in the event to mark the beginning of construction. The clinic is expected to be completed in late spring of 2019.
"Kitsap communities are proud of our military. Military personnel who serve on the Kitsap Peninsula often retire here or enter the civilian defense workforce at local commands," said Kitsap County Commissioner Ed Wolfe. "Choosing to live in Kitsap is evidence of our quality of life. However, with 38,000 veterans and increasing in the years to come, it is a reminder to ensure vital services, like healthcare, are available to the men and women who, for so many years, put service over self. This new clinic is a major step forward and the Kitsap County Commissioners are proud to be a partner to make this a reality."
Local architectural firm Rice Fergus Miller designed the 15,000-square-foot building that will include the new clinic with room for expanded care services and updated equipment, administrative office space and large parking and covered drop-off areas. Veterans Plaza LLC and its company, FPH Construction, Inc. of Bremerton, will build the new facility and are completing the final phases of permitting. Kitsap County issued a site development activity permit on March 14.
"Members of Veterans Plaza LLC, FPH Construction, Rice Fergus Miller and the entire design team are looking forward to the groundbreaking and opportunity to unveil the design for the new Veterans Clinic in Silverdale," said Mike Brown, president of FPH Construction and a partner in Veterans Plaza LLC. "A lot of thought has gone into the design to make this place more than just a clinic. Our hope and belief is that the community and veterans served here will find it a point of civic pride — one that is fitting of the responsibility that we all have to serve those who have given themselves to serve us and our country."
Veterans are currently served at a smaller clinic on Adele Avenue in Bremerton or must travel to Seattle or the Tacoma area for a full range of services and treatments. With over 38,000 veterans residing in Kitsap County and the overall population here expected to grow quickly in the next few years, the expanded clinic centrally located in the county and close to public transportation, will also serve veterans from neighboring counties.
The new clinic is the result of conversations spanning decades and a collaboration between public-private partnerships to expand services for veterans and support the strong connection to Kitsap's military community.
To RSVP to the groundbreaking, e-mail kmartin@fphmanagement.com. To learn more about the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, click here.
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