VA Claim Help for Kenosha & Racine Veterans

The Kenosha VA Clinic on 22nd Avenue belongs to the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, Illinois. It is the only Wisconsin clinic Lovell runs. Lovell was formed on Oct. 1, 2010, when the North Chicago VA Medical Center merged with Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes, and its main hospital stands near Great Lakes Naval Station.

The Union Grove VA Clinic on Spring Street, in Racine County, answers to a different parent: VA Milwaukee health care, whose hospital is the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center on West National Avenue.

Why the split matters for a claim

If you’ve been treated in both systems, your VA records live in two places. When you file, list every VA facility that has seen you, Kenosha, Union Grove, Lovell or Zablocki, so the VA requests all of them. A decision made without part of your treatment history can come back lower than the evidence would support.

Put simply, Kenosha is closer to Lovell and Racine is closer to Zablocki. Neither county has a Vet Center of its own on VA’s locator. For Racine veterans the Milwaukee Vet Center is the nearest. From Kenosha, the Milwaukee Vet Center and the Evanston Vet Center in Illinois are each about 40 miles off in a straight line.

Expect the exam notice to name the place, and don’t be surprised if it isn’t the clinic you use for care. Some exams are booked at VA facilities, which for this corner of the state can mean Lovell in North Chicago or Zablocki in Milwaukee. Many others go to contract examiners the VA hires, who may see you at a private practice nearby or a fair drive away.

Habits that pay off:

• Confirm the appointment as soon as the scheduler calls or writes.
• Bring a medication list and a short, honest note about your worst days.
• If the date won’t work, reschedule through the contact on the notice. Missing the exam without good cause can get the claim decided on the existing file, or denied.

Our C&P exam guide walks through what examiners look for.

Two current units are on the record in Kenosha. U.S. Coast Guard Station Kenosha held a change of command on June 5, 2026, and the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s Field Maintenance Shop 6 in Kenosha works under the 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. A short way south, Lovell’s hospital sits near Great Lakes Naval Station.

Coast Guard veterans file VA disability claims on the same footing as veterans of any other branch. Boat crews and engineers often spent years around loud engines, which makes the hearing side worth a look; our tinnitus guide and hearing loss guide explain how those are rated.

For Guard members at the maintenance shop, or anywhere else in the state, the paper trail carries the claim. Hang on to every set of orders, any line of duty paperwork, and the drill records that show where you were and when. A documented injury from a drill weekend can be service connected; an undocumented one is much harder to prove.

Kenosha County Veterans Services helps county residents apply for VA benefits at no charge. Racine County has its own county veterans service officer as well; WDVA counts one in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, and its Find My CVSO/TVSO directory lists how to reach yours.

WDVA Federal Claims Assistance is another free option. The state’s accredited claims section works from 5400 W. National Ave., Room 157, in the building that houses the VA regional office, and it takes walk-ins Monday through Friday. The American Legion and DAV keep service officers in that building too.

A free case review with us sits beside those choices. We listen, read what the VA has already told you, and give you a straight answer about what we see, including when a county officer is the better fit. You stay the one who files.

• First claims. An Intent to File holds your effective date for up to a year while you round up Lovell, Zablocki and private records.
• Rating increases. A condition rated years ago may be worse today, and current treatment notes are what move an increase.
• Denials. Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996) and a Board appeal (10182) must be filed within one year of the decision. A Supplemental Claim (20-0995) with new evidence filed inside that year keeps your effective date.
• PACT Act. Burn pit, Gulf War and Agent Orange presumptives that didn’t exist when many older claims were decided.
• TDIU. Pay at the 100% rate when service-connected conditions keep you out of steady work.

To see how ratings stack, try the VA disability calculator.