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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w)
212.490.9535 (f) 212.490.2151
STATE SENATOR
LIZ KRUEGER DEFENDS
MANHATTAN VA HOSPITAL
New
York, NY – State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) testified yesterday in opposition to a proposal
to consolidate the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in the Metro New York
area. In a study prepared for the Department of Veteran Affairs Capital Asset
Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) program, PricewaterhouseCoopers
outlined nine alternatives to the current system, in which New
York City veterans receive care at facilities on the East Side of
Manhattan, and in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Three
of the proposed alternatives call for closing the Manhattan VA
hospital. “The proposals take a system that works, and replace it with one
that won’t,” stated Senator Krueger.
“Consolidating the VA hospitals will hurt the quality and accessibility of
the medical services that veterans need.”
Senator Krueger expressed strong skepticism at PricewaterhouseCoopers’
conclusion that the closure of the Manhattan VA Hospital would not reduce the
accessibility and quality of care received by New York’s veterans. The VA Hospital in Manhattan is recognized
as one of the best VA Hospitals in the country. With 1.3 million veterans in the NY Metropolitan region, the
Manhattan VA Hospital currently has a waiting list for patients seeking to
use its services. People travel to the Manhattan VA Hospital from as far away
as Philadelphia,
because of the high quality of care it provides. The VA Hospital is also located in an area
known as “bedpan alley,” which has a concentration of hospitals on the East
Side of Manhattan. This location has
allowed the VA Hospital to develop strong professional and academic relationships
with surrounding institutions and their physicians to the benefit of VA
patients. The Prosthetic
Treatment Center
at the Manhattan VA Hospital is the primary provider of prosthetic services
in the Northeast.
Senator Krueger surmised that the opportunity to
sell the land under the Manhattan
VA for huge amounts of money motivated
the proposals, and not a true commitment to enhanced service delivery. “Given
the current value of real estate in Manhattan
and Brooklyn, assessments of any public
services needing physical facilities which factor in the potential revenue
from selling off land and buildings would result in the close of those
services,” stated Senator Krueger in her testimony. “We’d have
to say good-bye to all hospitals, public schools, police stations,
firehouses, senior centers and parks. This would be absurd public policy, and
neither should it be justified for evaluating our VA health care system.”
Senator Krueger stated that recent events make it
doubly important to protect the VA Hospital system’s accessibility, quality
of care, and efficient service delivery. Statistics show that 2,000 veterans
from the Afghan and Iraq Wars have registered with the VA New York Harbor
Healthcare System to date. Additionally, the inadequate government response
to Hurricane Katrina highlights the need for superior service delivery
systems like the VA Hospital system in the New York Metro Area. “Our joint
goal and indeed responsibility is to uphold the highest levels of service and
accessibility for our veterans and not worship at the feet of bloated real
estate values,” stated Senator Krueger.
Go to http://www.lizkrueger.com/testimony/vahospsept19.html
to read the Testimony of State Senator Liz Krueger Before the Capital Asset
Realignment for Enhanced Services (Cares) Local Advisory Panel Regarding
PriceWaterhouseCoopers Options for Manhattan
and Brooklyn VA Medical Centers.
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