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Testimony Of State Senator Liz Krueger Before The Assembly Standing Committees On Veterans’ Affairs And Health Regarding The VA Hospital In Manhattan
November 6, 2003
Good morning. I am State Senator Liz Krueger. I represent the 26th Senate
District, which includes Midtown, East Midtown, and the Upper East Side. I am testifying today in opposition to the
proposal for substantial service reductions at the Veterans’ Administration
(VA) Hospital in Manhattan. The CARES
Commission has recommended the study of transferring all acute care from
Manhattan to the Brooklyn VA Hospital in Bay Ridge, and moving a substantial
part of outpatient services to other facilities in the Bronx and East
Orange. These changes would severely
compromise service for veterans and their families living in Manhattan and
Queens. I am also concerned that if
these changes are implemented, the ultimate result will be the closure of the
Manhattan VA Hospital, which will no longer be providing enough services to
adequately utilize its facility. 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 conveniently located in an area known as “bedpan alley” - 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. Our veterans deserve the best medical care
possible, and thanks to the relationships the VA in Manhattan has developed
with its neighboring institutions, veterans can receive the highest quality
care. This relationship also benefits
the surrounding hospitals as the VA is in a position to work together with
these institutions on a variety of health care issues. Not only is the care at the
Veterans Hospital in Manhattan first rate, but it is also easily accessible,
located near several bus and subway lines.
This is extremely important for veterans with disabilities, who make
up a large portion of the population served by the hospital. In contrast, the Brooklyn VA is two miles
from the nearest subway stop, and is much harder to reach not only for
veterans who live in Manhattan, but also Queens residents, who will have to
travel through Manhattan to reach the Brooklyn VA by subway. There are no accessible subway stops
anywhere near the Brooklyn facility, making access for people with
disabilities even more difficult The Veterans’ Administration’s
regional administration, Veteran Integrated Service Network 3, has indicated
that the VA Hospital in Manhattan should remain open, due to existing demand
and the complexities of transportation in the New York City metropolitan
region. The CARES plan ignores this
recommendation from those in the VA most familiar with the needs of veterans
in the New York region. During this period when we are
once again asking our armed forces to make incredible sacrifices, it would be
unconscionable to reduce services for those who have served our country. Veterans deserve access to the best
possible care, and the VA Hospital in Manhattan has provided them with such
care. Reducing services or closing this
facility would undermine the health and safety of veterans in the New York region. I strongly urge you to make clear your
opposition to the CARES commission proposals regarding the VA Hospital in
Manhattan. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify here today. |
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