Veterans Service Office Opens Inside Lakeland VA Clinic

2-minute read

Military veterans or their family members applying for benefits have to tackle reams of paperwork and navigate special rules. But those looking for help crawling out from under all the red tape no longer have to drive to Bartow.

A Veterans Service Office opened Monday inside the new VA Clinic off Lakeland Highlands Road.

Free service: A Veterans Service officer will work with Polk County’s 54,000 veterans and their families to answer questions, provide instruction and help fill out forms. The service is free.

Coordinated effort: U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, coordinated with the Polk County Veterans Services Division and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to open the VSO office.

“I understand how challenging it can be for fellow veterans to navigate the VA,” said Franklin, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and veteran of the first Gulf War.

Franklin sits on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Appropriations Committee’s Military Construction and Veterans Affairs subcommittee.

“An experienced and compassionate VSO makes all the difference in helping veterans get the benefits they’ve earned,” Franklin said. “I’m confident this office will provide top-notch assistance for our nation’s heroes.”

Polk County Veterans Services, based in the government complex in Bartow, has not had a Lakeland presence since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Address: The Lakeland VA Clinic is at 2080 Meadowland Park Blvd., behind the Sam’s Club on Lakeland Highlands Road.

Office: The Veterans Service officer is on the second floor in room 2049.

Hours: The office will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Tuesdays, it will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Walk-in only: Appointments are on a walk-in basis.