Before gold-painted shovels ceremoniously dug into a prepared mound of dirt at the site of the future Kennewick VA Clinic, Ryan Peta made a vow.

“I have a responsibility that we build the best clinic with the best providers,” the interim director of the Jonathan M. Wainright VA Medical Center in Walla Walla told a crowd of veterans, local and state officials and community members on Nov. 5. “I promise you we will give you 100% of what you deserve.”

Earth-moving equipment was spread across the construction site during the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new multimillion-dollar clinic in Kennewick’s Southridge area, which is anticipated to be more than 100,000 square feet.

It will be two years before the clinic is completed, but Peta and other VA officials promised they would be ready to welcome the day’s attendees back in early 2029 for the clinic’s ribbon-cutting, ushering in a new era of accessible care for the region’s veterans.

“Today is more important than turning a shovel,” said Dr. Cynthia Rasch, the Walla Walla facility’s chief of staff. “It’s about putting our veterans and their families at the center of everything we do.”

Federal officials announced the site of the long-awaited veterans outpatient clinic at 3811 Plaza Way in late April. It will sit on 12 acres near the Ridgeline Drive-Highway 395 overpass, just south of Trios Southridge Hospital.

It will be two years before the Kennewick VA Clinic is completed, but VA officials promised the crowd attending the recent groundbreaking for the facility they would keep the project on schedule so it could usher in a new era of accessible care for the region’s veterans. 

| Photo by Nathan Finke

Construction is expected to cost $35 million, according to city planning documents. It will be paid for with $48.2 million federal appropriation.

A registered agent bought the property in March for $13.5 million. The VA selected Illinois-based JTW Development LLC to develop and lease the clinic under a 20-year agreement valued at more than $209 million. 

The building footprint will cover 85,000 square feet and have 700 parking spaces, with construction taking 18 to 24 months.

Ryan Companies US Inc., the VA’s builder, plans to have the foundation installed before winter so construction can begin in earnest in the spring.

The new clinic will offer more services and care than the existing VA clinic in the Richland federal building on Jadwin Avenue, just a few blocks from Kadlec Regional Medical Center. Those include pharmacy, prosthetics, laboratory services, dental, audiology, optometry, radiology and primary care.

Additionally, services from the Homeless Veteran Program will be available, and Rasch said officials recently confirmed that some specialty cardiology services also will be offered.

Those expanded services mean less commuting outside the region for care, ensuring veterans can spend more time at home and with their families.

“This is so impactful to our community,” said Kennewick Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Torelli, who is a veteran. He spoke about how it would make services more available for him but also to three other generations of his family who have served, meaning “they can live here and get the care they need.”