The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is reviewing bids for a new outpatient clinic in Hall County and plans to award a contract in late September.

The clinic, replacing an overcrowded one on Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood, is projected to open in 2013, said Devin Harrison, the Atlanta VA Medical Center's Community Based Outpatient Clinics coordinator.

Further details about the bids weren't available Wednesday.

The current 4,500-square-foot center sits across from Gainesville State College and near shopping centers.

Officials have said they hope the new facility will be outfitted with new medical services currently unavailable at the Oakwood clinic, including podiatry and optometry.

Oakwood has gotten some relief from a 7,400-square-foot clinic that opened Sept. 27 in Blairsville.