United Spinal Praises VA Decision
New York, NY––United Spinal Association applauds the recent decision by Secretary of Veterans Affairs, R. James Nicholson, to retain existing VA medical centers in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, and to modernize VA facilities at St. Albans, Queens. United Spinal, a national veterans service organization, has been part of a local advisory panel for two years and has argued consistently against consolidating VA medical centers.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs has demonstrated its foresight and commitment to our nation’s veterans in the most meaningful way possible,” said United Spinal President Clair Russell Hesselton.
As part of the VA’s 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, these three facilities provide veterans in New York with impatient and outpatient services, including acute medical care, surgery, mental health services, nursing home and domiciliary care. “Maintaining and enhancing these medical centers is unequivocally paramount to safeguard the provision of critical health care services to ailing veterans and their families. If the VA were to remove any of these vital components from the integrated health care network currently in place, the entire system would be jeopardized,” Hesselton added.
The VA based its decision upon a lengthy study that examined the risks and advantages of eliminating and consolidating VA medical facilities nationwide, known as the “Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services,” or CARES, initiative. The study attempted to balance the projected health care needs of veterans against the economic realities of historically insufficient funding for providing medical and psychiatric care. In statements before Congress and the VA, United Spinal has warned that the closure and consolidation of numerous VA hospitals, clinics, and other facilities around the country would necessarily result in geographical gaps in health care coverage and the loss of indispensable specialized care, such as treatment and rehabilitation for veterans with spinal cord injuries or disorders.
United Spinal Executive Director, Paul J. Tobin commented, “Although we applaud VA Secretary Nicholson’s decision to maintain the integrity of the VA’s health care network in New York, we remain concerned that the closure of medical facilities that thousands of veterans have relied on for years as their sole source of health care will adversely impact their continued well-being.” Tobin continued, “We would hope that the Secretary and his staff will take into account the same dangerous consequences that led to the decision to maintain and improve its New York facilities when considering the fate of other medical centers around the nation.”
United Spinal Association is a national disability rights and advocacy organization serving over 7,000 members. Established more than 60 years ago by a group of paralyzed World War II veterans, United Spinal is currently the fastest growing organization in the country dedicated to serving people with spinal cord injuries and disorders. Through their efforts to secure better health care, accessible public buildings and transportation, and equal opportunities in the workplace, these veterans continued serving their country long after leaving the battlefield and today that legacy lives on in United Spinal Association’s expanded mission to serve not just our brave veterans but all Americans living with paralysis or other mobility impairments.