VA to expand cancer care in Colorado Springs

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A new clinic will begin providing infusion cancer care in Colorado Springs thanks to more that $500,000 in funding from the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Close to Me program.

The VA’s Close to Me cancer care service is designed to bring high quality cancer care closer to home. Under this program, the VA said it will provide veterans with the full continuum of cancer care at a local outpatient clinic rather than requiring travel to Aurora. The VA said Close to Me ensures more veterans have the option to choose the VA for their cancer care journey. By reducing travel demands to major, and often urban, medical centers, veterans and their caregivers are afforded more time to go about their daily lives and focus on healing.

According to the VA, the Close to Me program awarded VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (VA ECHCS) a grant that will provide $525,000 for two years to hire registered nurses, a pharmacy technician, and an advanced practice provider to provide anti-cancer therapies at the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA Clinic in Colorado Springs. The Close to Me infusion clinic project kicked off on July 18 and the Colorado Springs clinic is slated to open in Spring 2025.

The VA said Southern Colorado veterans who need anti-cancer infusion like chemotherapy, which can require up to three medical appointments per week, could travel to Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora or they could be referred to community providers for this care. However, due to a shortage of capacity for infusion care in Colorado Springs, the VA said veterans referred to community care are often still required to travel to the Denver metro area several times per week.

“Veterans who need anti-cancer therapy are already going through one of the hardest times of their lives. This initiative helps us make their treatment a little bit easier by giving it closer to home,” said Dr. Christiane Thienelt, Acting Chief of Oncology. “Local treatment in Colorado Springs will reduce the strain of traveling for this care. We’re happy that we can add to our services in Colorado Springs that supports some of our sickest patients.”

Since the inception of the program in 2021, the VA said nearly 500 veterans have had cancer treatments closer to home in over 20 community-based outpatient clinic locations, reducing travel for veterans and their caregivers by more than 200,000 miles.

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