Two primary-care providers have been recruited for the Veterans Administration's Community Based Outpatient Clinic on Maui.

One of the recruits, Dr. James Lockyer, is a contract provider and board-certified internist who practiced on Kaua'i for many years. His experience includes efforts to improve medical care to the homeless and rural populations, according to a news release issued by the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System.

The other primary-care provider, physician assistant Norman Mallory, is a VA employee already on board at the clinic. His previous experience includes working at the VA Medical Center in Togus, Maine.

The Maui clinic now has four primary-care providers. The addition of Mallory will free up registered nurse practitioner Kate Harper-Schmidt to begin a home-based primary-care service, said Fred Ballard, spokesman for the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System.

He said the agency hopes the staff additions will calm some veterans' concerns about staff turnover and other care-related issues at the Maui clinic. There are about 10,000 veterans on Maui, 1,500 of whom are patients at the VA clinic, Ballard said.