Following Tester Efforts, Travis W. Atkins VA Clinic in Bozeman Expands to Provide Physical Therapy and Audiology Services

(Big Sandy, Mont.) - Following sustained efforts from U.S. Senator Jon Tester to improve and expand Bozeman-area veterans' access to quality Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) health care and services, the Senator announced today that Travis W. Atkins VA Clinic in Bozeman has been expanded by 3,900 feet and is now offering physical therapy and audiology services.

As Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester successfully secured the funding for this state-of-the-art clinic that opened its doors in March 2022, and called on VA Secretary Denis McDonough directly to further expand the space to provide physical therapy and audiology services that veterans can now access.

"Montana veterans deserve the best possible health care and services, and that starts with ensuring the facilities that serve them are top of the line," said Tester. "This expansion of the Travis W. Atkins VA Clinic will deliver Bozeman veterans access to quality physical therapy and audiology services all under one roof, and I'm proud to have worked to secure the new space and services for our men and women who served. I'll keep fighting to expand veterans' access to health care-no matter where they live."

Space at the clinic was added and remodeled to create a physical therapy rehabilitation gym and an audiology treatment area, and Bozeman-area veterans can now access these expanded services.

Tester successfully secured funding for the Travis W. Atkins VA Clinic over three different fiscal years as the only member of the Montana delegation to vote for all three federal spending bills used to fund the new clinic. In his role as Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Tester also called on VA Secretary Denis McDonough to further expand the clinic and offer more services for veterans. As a result of Tester's push, VA agreed to expand the space by several thousand square feet to provide additional physical therapy and audiology services, following the clinic's opening in 2022.

The Travis W. Atkins VA Clinic is more than twice the size of the old facility it replaced, and offers a range of services including primary care, dedicated women's health rooms, behavioral health, mental health, telehealth services, and now physical therapy and audiology services to more than 2,275 veterans. Tester championed the bipartisan effort to rename the new clinic after local Medal of Honor recipient and Montana hero Army Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins.

As Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Tester has led the way in expanding veterans' access to care in Montana-securing resourcesand federal approvalto build new and modernized facilities across the state. Through years of focused work with multiple Administrations of both parties, and working across the aisle in Washington, D.C. and with Montana communities, Tester's efforts resulted in 13 new facilities opening or in planning for construction in the last several years-two at Fort Harrison in Helena, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, Havre, twoin Butte, Hamilton, Kalispell, two in Miles City, and Lewistown.<_o3a_p>