La Grande VA Clinic to host veterans health resource fair April 22

Veterans in Union County who need help navigating benefits, finding care or solving day-to-day barriers to service will have a one-stop chance at the La Grande VA Clinic, where staff will host a health resource fair on Wednesday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will take place at 202 12th St. in La Grande and is open to veterans and family members. Light refreshments will be available, and questions about the fair can be directed to 541-963-0627, ext. 4028.

The fair is being hosted by the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, which serves veterans across 16 counties in Washington, Oregon and Idaho through VA Walla Walla Health Care. The La Grande clinic is part of that system and offers primary care, giving local veterans a nearby place to connect with services without leaving Union County.

Resource tables at the fair will cover transportation, homeless programs, patient advocates, behavioral health, whole health and enrollment and eligibility. For veterans who are struggling to get to appointments, are unsure whether they qualify for care, or need help finding the right office to resolve a problem, those tables could remove the kind of delays that often keep routine needs from turning into bigger crises.

That local need is not small. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Union County had 1,622 veterans in the 2020-2024 period, underscoring how many families in the area may rely on nearby VA access, caregiver support and clear information about available programs.

The event also puts patient support front and center. VA Walla Walla Health Care says patient representatives at the Jonathan M. Wainwright VA are specially trained to help veterans resolve issues with their care, a service that can matter when paperwork, referrals or access problems start getting in the way of treatment.

For Union County veterans and the people who help care for them, the April 22 fair offers a direct way to handle practical problems in one place, from enrollment questions to behavioral health support, at a clinic that already serves as a local entry point into the VA system.