By Adam McRoberts on January 11, 2010

Several landowners in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon are competing to become the site of a new regional Veterans Affairs medical clinic to be built in the area. The clinic will serve local veterans who now must travel as far as Portland or Roseburg to receive specialized medical services. The clinic is expected to be complete in 2014. The planned 100,000 square feet medical facility will host several new treatment centers, including a pulmonary center.Unfortunately, many veterans suffer from pulmonary problems, including diseases caused by exposure to asbestos, which was often used to insulate pipes and equipment on Navy vessels. Servicemen and women were exposed to the asbestos when they worked in close confines on board ship, when the ships were repaired in dry-dock, or even while sleeping underneath asbestos-covered pipes that ran throughout the ships and over the bunks in sleeping quarters. Exposure to asbestos can cause several pulmonary diseases, such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

For more information, go to http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24326099-46/clinic-eugene-site-springfield-building.csp.