Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Friday, Feb. 13, the new Veterans Administration Clinic in Havre will celebrate its January opening with an open house for the north-central Montana community from 1 p.m. to 3 p. m. “We invite you to take this opportunity to tour the clinic, meet the new staff and have refreshments,” said VA Healthcare Montana spokeswoman Teresa Bell in an e-mailed release. The clinic, pursued by Hi-Line residents for decades, opened Jan. 12 in the complex just east of Northern Montana Hospital. The complex also houses the dental offices of Drs. Michael Shelby and Daniel Shelby and the Bullhook Community Health Center. The VA Clinic staff includes Dr. Robert Henderson; Teri Matosich, RN; and Kim Vasseur, clerk. Prior to the clinic opening in Havre, qualifying veterans had to travel as far as Great Falls, Glasgow or Cut Bank to receive treatment paid for through the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In the last round of looking for new locations, Havre put in for a clinic but was denied, with new clinics approved for Lewistown and Cut Bank instead. Havre veteran Merrill Lundman led a grassroots push to create a new clinic in Havre, collecting signatures and contacting officials on the state level and the federal level, including Montana’s U. S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg, as well as the head of Veterans Affairs, Secretary R. James Nicholson. Lundman died in December 2007, less than a month before the VA announced it would create a new clinic in Havre. The clinic is open Monday through Friday. Its phone number is 265-4304. Veterans wanting to schedule a doctor’s appointment can call 1 (877) 468-8387.
