For the last month, U.S. veterans needing health care have been streaming through the doors of the gleaming new Veterans Affairs clinic in Toms River, a long-anticipated facility to serve those who served the United States.

On Monday, dignitaries and those who fought to get a new clinic in Ocean County gathered under a tent in front of the building along with veterans it will serve to celebrate the achievement of that long-sought goal with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The VA's new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic "has been many, many years coming," said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the U.S. Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs for Health, and was overdue for those who have served the U.S. around the world.

The state-of-the-art clinic is providing some services now as the VA continues to hire staff for a number of specialties, to allow veterans to access all the services they need in one place.

"They deserve the absolute best," Elnahal said.

"The journey for this day has been one of perseverance and collaboration," said Dr. Joan McInerney, the director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network overseeing the region that includes New Jersey. She praised the efforts and advocacy of various veterans service organizations along with the support of the congressional delegation of New Jersey in the fight to get the new clinic.

That included Rep. Chris Smith of the 4th District and Rep. Andy Kim, who represented Ocean County for four years before redistricting, and Sen. Cory Booker.

Booker praised Smith for his longtime commitment to veterans that dates back to 1982, when Smith first was elected to the House and began advocating for a community-based clinic in Ocean County, something Smith felt was long-overdue back then.

Rep. Chris Smith with a member of the American Legion Post 129 in from of the new VA clinic after the ceremony Monday. (Karen Wall/Patch)

"Because of your noble sacrifice and bravery and tenacity, we are free and can hope for a sustainable peace and a better tomorrow," Smith said to the veterans at Monday's ceremony as he cited President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address given in the wake of the Civil War, where Lincoln advocated for the nation "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan" — the statement that formed the foundation of the nation's Veterans Affairs system.

Smith's advocacy led to the construction of the James J. Howard Outpatient Clinic in Brick, which opened in 1991. When the needs of veterans in the area outstripped the capacity of the Howard clinic to meet them, Smith advocated for the new clinic, which was first approved in the 2014 legislation signed by President Barack Obama that was to address serious inadequacies in the VA health system.

On Monday, Smith emphasized that the effort — which saw the clinic project go through three rounds of bidding before it was awarded — has always been bipartisan.

Kim, who was elected to the Senate in November, in his formal remarks at the ceremony said New Jersey's veterans are his top priority, a mindset he said he learned from his parents. Kim said it was U.S. soldiers who were the first Americans his parents and grandparents had contact with when they fled war in Korea for the United States, and their kindness was never forgotten.

In an interview after the ceremony, Kim said the needs of veterans and the military is never a partisan issue in his mind, something he demonstrated in his first town hall after his election to the House in 2018. Before a room full of mostly skeptical residents in the clubhouse at Holiday City at Berkeley, Kim welcomed questions and challenges regarding the needs of veterans.

"It's about being responsive to the needs of the people, not imposing my beliefs on them," Kim said. "That's what people want."

Booker, in his remarks, emphasized the bipartisan efforts it took to get the new clinic from idea to construction. He said men and women serving the United States "on the front lines around the world should not have to worry that we will have the resources available to support their physical and mental health" when they return from service.

"Today is a testament to patriotism," Booker said. "Today is a day to honor those who loved this country so much they put their lives on the line for it."

Also present were John Thomas, associate executive director of the VA's Office of Real Property, who oversees the acquisition and leasing of property for VA medical facilities, and Norman Dong of FD Stonewater, the contractor that built the Toms River facility, along with Vincent Solomeno, New Jersey's deputy commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs; state Sen. Carmen Amato; Assemblymen Brian Rumpf, Greg Myhre and Paul Kanitra, Toms River Township Council members Craig Coleman, David Ciccozzi, and James Quinlisk, and former mayor Maurice Hill, who helped advocate for bringing the clinic to Toms River.