Denver — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Colorado U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen urged U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rocky Mountain Network (VISN 19) Director Sunaina Kumar-Geibel to move forward with construction of a long-awaited VA clinic in Fremont County.
The project was added to the VA’s fiscal year 2026 priority list in May 2025. But the project has been awaiting VISN-level approval for over two years, leaving Fremont County without a local VA facility.
“As you know, there are no VA clinics operating in Fremont County, and veterans in the area urgently need health care support. An estimated 3,500 veterans live in Cañon City and Florence. When accounting for unincorporated parts of Fremont County, nearly 5,000 eligible area veterans are in need of care,” wrote Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Pettersen. “This data firmly pushes the planned clinic over the threshold for a second in-house primary care team and demonstrates the critical need for an operational clinic. As the members of the Congressional delegation representing the Fremont County region, we remain supportive of the planned construction, and we urge you to expeditiously approve the construction request to better serve veterans in need of assistance.”
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear Mrs. Kumar-Giebel:
We write to request that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rocky Mountain Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 19) approve the construction of a VA clinic in Fremont County, Colorado. The project is currently pending VISN approval.
After taking office in 2023, Congresswoman Pettersen wrote to you to request the establishment of a VA clinic in Fremont County. While we are pleased by the progress that has been made—such as the inclusion of the Fremont County clinic within the VA’s FY26 Strategic Capital Investment Planning (SCIP) process priority list—the project has awaited approval at the VISN level for over two years.
As you know, there are no VA clinics operating in Fremont County, and veterans in the area urgently need health care support. An estimated 3,500 veterans live in Cañon City and Florence. When accounting for unincorporated parts of Fremont County, nearly 5,000 eligible area veterans are in need of care. This data firmly pushes the planned clinic over the threshold for a second in-house primary care team and demonstrates the critical need for an operational clinic. As the members of the Congressional delegation representing the Fremont County region, we remain supportive of the planned construction, and we urge you to expeditiously approve the construction request to better serve veterans in need of assistance.
Thank you for your full and fair consideration of this request in accordance with all applicable rules, regulations, laws, and guidelines.