Military veterans in Umatilla County will have a new veterans center in the near future.

The new center, one of 28 slated for 27 states, will be located in a to-be-determined location in Walla Walla County, Wash.

In a statement from Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the new centers are expected to begin operations sometime in 2010.

Linda Wondra, public relations for the Walla Walla veteran’s hospital said according to the information she has received, the centers will help provide many services for veterans and their families, including counseling and bereavement services.

“It’s being placed here so veterans in both counties are provided with services,” Wondra said.

Wondra said the center will help service the growing needs of both counties with more veterans returning and older veterans needing more care.

For Gary Ward, Pendleton VFW post commander, the news of the new center is a pleasant surprise.

“We look forward to its opening and seeing it how it works out,” Ward said.

Ward said it will be nice to have a center only 40 miles away with the other centers in the Tri-Cities and La Grande.

Wondra said the planning for the new centers has been in discussion for a long time and now has become a reality but said things are still in the planning stages for the new center.

“The biggest decision was to determine where (what counties) the new centers will be located in. Now they’re formulating their location,” she said.