HARRIMAN, Tenn. - Hundreds of veterans have signed petitions in support of a new hospital in East Tennessee.
WBIR-TV reports that veterans gave the petitions to elected leaders during a meeting Saturday in the hope of enticing them to vote in favor of a plan that would create a veteran's facility from an old hospital in the city of Harriman. The city has offered to lease the space to the Department of Veterans Affairs for a dollar a year.
Officials say if approved, the hospital would serve a 10-county area and assist close to 50,000 veterans.
Officials say Saturday was the first of a five-step process to in a move to get approval for a third VA hospital in the state.