Sources with the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs say a new clinic for veterans is scheduled to be built in Carrollton.

The clinic will be funded by a donation from the Trinka Davis Foundation of $17 million, which will help create a facility capable of “expanding care to vets in Haralson, Douglas and Paulding counties” in addition to Carroll County, said Greg Kendall, public affairs officer with the Atlanta VA Medical Center. The exact size and scope of the clinic has not been decided, and will depend largely on the location that will be selected in Carrollton, he said.

Several sites have been surveyed in recent weeks, including one on Dixie Street and one in the Oak Mountain area on Old Newnan Road.

How much of the $17 million will go to fund the effort has not been determined, though the “donation would encompass the acquisition of land and construction build-out for an outpatient medical facility,” Kendall said.

The foundation was established for Katherine “Trinka” Rynne Davis as a charitable nonprofit organized to provide financial assistance to disabled and deceased veterans and their families. It is based in Birmingham.

In December 2008, the Atlanta VAMC was contacted by a representative from the foundation regarding the donation, and since that time, the process has been slowed by federal red tape. Because of the size of the donation, it first needed approval from the U.S. VAMC in Washington, D.C., which the organization has since given.

Carrollton was decided as a location because Davis previously owned businesses in the Carrollton area and had expressed her wishes that the clinic be located there. Carroll County and the surrounding counties have previously been identified as underserved by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Outpatient clinics such as the one proposed for this donation are important to veterans because they allow the VA to offer health care services in locations convenient to veterans’ homes,” Kendall said.

Carrollton City Councilman Mike Patterson, a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves who is working with the project, said the region is in dire need of such a facility. Currently, he said, veterans must block out an entire day to travel to the closest treatment facility, which can be as far as Birmingham or Decatur. They face long waits once they arrive, he said, the result of a high number of patients statewide being served by a limited number of doctors.

“The problem the VA has right now is they have a center in Decatur that is totally overrun by vets coming in to get treatment. It’s a day affair just to get a prescription filled, and they need another location to keep these guys from having to travel two hours just to get treatment,” Patterson said. “We have vets all over this county, some disabled, some with different stages of problems, and they have to travel to Decatur. It just makes sense to have something here, whether it be primary care or something bigger.”

Though nothing has been formalized, Patterson said, discussions to this point have described a 60,000-square-foot primary care facility, with as many as 20 doctors.

Not only do local veterans have a need for such a treatment facility, Patterson said, but the future clinic’s proximity to Tanner Medical Center will make it convenient for patients who need surgical or long-term treatment to receive it.

According to Don Ferguson, senior vice president with Regions Bank, who is acting as a purchasing agent on the matter, the decision on a location will be made within the next three months.