Doctor eyes expansion of vets clinic

LYNN – He is a retired cardiologist who enjoys taking his grandchild to the New England Aquarium, but Dr. Daniel Wistran has one more goal to achieve before he becomes a full-time grandfather.The Swampscott resident is managing partner of the Boston Street doctors building. He is attempting to convince the U.S. Veterans Administration to expand the existing 1,000 square foot veterans’ clinic in the building to a 6,000-7,000 square foot facility.”They haven’t agreed but there’s a lot of goodwill between us and the VA,” Wistran said.He has worked for two years with U.S. Rep. John Tierney, Mayor Edward J. Clancy, Jr. and Veterans Director Michael Sweeney to expand the existing Boston Street clinic.The clinic occupies two small offices on the first floor of Wistran’s building. The doctor wants to devote the entire first floor to VA care. Ideally, he would like to build a new clinic on a rectangular swatch of grass bordering the building’s parking lot.He envisions the expanded facility providing a variety of veterans’ medical needs, in particular head injury and mental health care for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.”The idea is to make Lynn a model for returning Iraq vets,” Wistran said, adding, “Veterans overwhelmingly want to stay in Lynn.”Wistran assumed his medical training would make him sought after as a surgeon or medic during the Vietnam War, but the wartime demand for medical personnel subsided before he completed his education.Throughout his career, he never forgot friends who served and died in Vietnam and made honoring their memories one of his goals even as he finished his career and retired.”I’m in the business of doing some good while I still can.”Wistran has lined up $1.5 million in financing for his project and taken steps to relocate first floor physicians to new quarters in the building.Building manager John Gilberg said Wistran’s push to expand the VA’s presence in Lynn is “unique because it’s coming from the private sector.”