A new VA clinic has opened in Sorrento Valley to respond to the influx of veterans in San Diego County.

Officials opened the clinic Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house.

The 9,950-square-foot space will provide four primary care teams and 15 exams rooms in addition to team rooms and will be able to treat 17,000 patients a year.

The new clinic was crucial to meet the needs of the burgeoning vet population, said Dr. Robert Smith, chief of staff for the VA health care system in San Diego.

“It’s important because we continue to have a growing population in San Diego,” he said. “In order of us for us to provide timely service, we need to keep providing clinics.”

The Sorrento Valley clinic will offer primary care and mental health services, he said.

Smith said the opening of this clinic is just one step in a plan to expand VA services to multiple locations. A plan to bring a VA clinic to south San Diego, in Chula Vista, is in the works, though firm plans are far in the future.

Among those who spoke at Friday’s ribbon-cutting was Congressman Scott Peters, D-San Diego, who lauded the services provided for vets already in San Diego.

“You guys are the cornerstone of providing service for our vet,” he said. “San Diego’s a model of how to take care of veterans.”