For a veteran living near Junction City, health care can become a punishing calculation of miles, appointment times and services that may not exist under one roof. Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has spent years arguing that rural veterans should not be forced to accept distance as the price of serving their country. The VA’s new Junction City clinic would put that principle into practice.
Moran, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, announced the VA decision to open a 40,000-square-foot outpatient clinic expected to serve 165,000 veterans. Once completed, it will be the largest outpatient clinic in the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System.
“Veterans in rural communities should not be forced to travel long distances from home to access the care and services they need,” Moran said. He pointed to expanded primary and specialty care, mental-health resources and supporting services as the difference the new facility can make.
For Republicans, the veterans agenda is concrete: care closer to home, more choices for patients and a federal system forced to organize itself around the veteran instead of the bureaucracy.
The VA’s lease announcement says the facility will expand clinical capacity and provide more convenient, timely access. The plan includes larger primary-care and mental-health areas along with specialty and ancillary services in an energy-efficient building.
Junction City is the right place for that investment. Fort Riley’s presence has shaped the region for generations, and veterans who built their lives nearby should not be treated as an afterthought once the uniform comes off. A serious veterans policy follows them home.
As Veterans’ Affairs chairman, Moran can press the department on access, construction and whether the finished clinic delivers what Kansas veterans were promised. Kansas veterans will judge it by available appointments and capable care, not by a ribbon-cutting.
Construction and facility preparation are expected to be completed by winter 2028. The clinic is not open yet, but the signed lease, planned size and service list establish a concrete federal commitment.
The Eastern Kansas system already serves veterans across a wide geographic area. A larger Junction City hub can move more care toward the people who need it and reduce the burden of navigating a distant network.
Kansas veterans completed their mission. Moran is making Washington complete its own. The VA has signed the lease, Junction City has the location, and a Republican chairman has put rural access at the center of the win.