VA Salt Lake City Health Care System set to open 11th clinic; third healthcare facility in Salt Lake County when South Salt Lake location opens in 2028.

The new clinic joins the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) near the University of Utah, as well as multiple clinics within the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System in North Logan, South Ogden, Orem, Price, Roosevelt, South Jordan, St. George, as well as locations outside of Utah borders in Nevada (Elko) and Idaho (Idaho Falls, Pocatello). 

But a major purpose of the new VA outpatient clinic will be to relieve space constraints at George E. Wahlen VAMC, while bringing modern, consolidated outpatient care closer to where veterans live for easier access high-quality, coordinated care in a modern, welcoming environment. 

Dr. Angela D. Williams, Executive Director of the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, who mentioned that many veterans she speaks to aren’t interested in special treatment, but want to know that they matter; that someone cares.

“That is why we're here today, and that's why [this facility] is so meaningful,” she said. “This clinic is not simply a concrete walls or steel or exam rooms, it's about ensuring every veteran who walks through those doors feels seen, heard, respected, and cared for.”

Once completed in 2028, the new VA clinic expects to house approximately 168 staff and provide enhanced primary care, mental health services, a women’s health clinic, pharmacy, pathology and laboratory medicine, and whole health services. Primary care and women’s health services currently offered at the VAMC are planned to relocate to the new clinic to ease demand on the medical center campus, allow for future expansion of specialty care services, and centralize VA’s most common services in the Salt Lake Valley.

Dave Ridgeway, Layton Construction’s Director of Healthcare, expressed confidence that the firm’s previous federal experience with the General Services Committee—moving the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall across Market Street in Salt Lake, then rotating it 180 degrees to make way for the Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in 2009—as well as work with The Molasky Group on the Clark County Detention Center in North Las Vegas, has the team ready to build out the new facility to VA standards.

Ridegway, an Air Force veteran (’93-’99) said the the two-story structure will be built with structural steal and concrete floors. The site will also contain a 130-stall parking structure, to combine with surface parking stalls for 600 total spaces to address space gaps and operational limitations identified through the VA’s Strategic Capital Investment Planning process. 

According to Lindsay Killian, Lease Execution Director at VA, the future facility is part of the VA’s efforts to implement the Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022. The federal legislation that authorized $797 billion in spending aimed at improving health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service, and for other purposes.

“Projects like this don't happen overnight,” said Killian, who detailed the years of planning, coordinating, persistence, perseverance from VA staff and partners within the CRE and A/E/C communities. 

“We're all working towards a shared mission to deliver a facility that feels like home.”