By james art 
DOVER — The Kent County Veterans Affairs Clinic, at the Blue Hen Mall, celebrated the opening of its radiology suite on Oct. 25. That means veterans who need X-rays or CT scans no longer have to travel to the Wilmington location.
“Dover is our fastest growing market, so it’s great to see that we’re able to expand our clinics for our veterans,” said Dr. Tanveer Qureshi, VA Wilmington Healthcare System’s acting chief of staff. “Our veterans in Dover will no longer have to travel to Wilmington to get CT scans and X-rays. They won’t have to wait the long community wait times we have. Our Georgetown veterans will also be able to take advantage of our CAT scan here. They have an x-ray in Georgetown.
Radiology joins other departments at the Kent County VA Clinic, such as podiatry, optometry, physical therapy, audiology, and more. Appointments in the new apartment began on October 28.
According to Bill Farley of the Delaware Veterans Affairs Commission, the expansion of VA medical services in Delaware is a collaborative effort led by U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del. and Colonel Ronald Sarg, who is now deceased.
“Col. Sarg was an Air Force colonel. He was a dentist, but he was no ordinary dentist. He was actually a maxillofacial surgeon. He spent his time in Vietnam and the Gulf of Cam Ranh restoring the faces of badly wounded soldiers,” Mr Farley said. “We know he’s not here in person. He died. That’s what he is in spirit. This is his dream.”
According to Wilmington VA Medical Center Chief Engineer Jermaine Best, the project took about eight months to build but more than three years to get various funding and space-use approvals.
He said radiology equipment manufacturer Phillips is on site, speeding up the time it takes to assemble the machine.
The clinic is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday at 655 South Bay Road, Suite 3C. He can be reached at 800-461-8262, ext. 32400.
For more information, visit Va.gov/wilmington-health-care/locations/kent-county-va-clinic. www.Va.gov/wilmington-health-care/locations/kent-county-va-clinic