Veterans clinic will offer mammograms

Aaron Clemens

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

Veterans will soon be able to get mammograms at the A.D. Guy Veterans Affairs clinic, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Monday.

"We wanted one-stop shopping for other services and a mammogram," she said.

Berkley, who serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, lobbied the VA to fund the mammogram machines in Las Vegas.

The last two sessions of Congress have involved bitter fights over a growth allowance for veterans hospitals, Richard Urey, Berkley's chief of staff, said.

"It sounds politically correct to talk about flat-line budgets, but this community more than any others needs the extra money to pay for growth," Berkley said, who add that Nevada, Arizona and Florida are the only three states whose veteran populations are growing, with Nevada's growing the fastest. Berkley spoke of how more female veterans need mammogram services, with the local population jumping from 869 to 1,300 in the past three years. She emphasized the importance of detecting breast cancer at an early stage.

The lack of mammogram services was one of many criticisms of the A.D. Guy clinic cited in a 1999 probe by the federal inspector general's office. The investigation stemmed from complaints made in early 1999 to Sen. Harry Reid's office.