Oh boy the VA is hoping to fund 2,000 beds for Homeless short again

[Monkeyman]

Are Dear VA is saying they will fund 2,000 beds for homeless veterans,devert devert devert again.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed in their report the VA homeless program is 10,000 beds short. There is about 194,000 homeless veterans right now. Every night they look for places to sleep ,under bridges,alleys,cars and boxs. The VA is also short 45,000 transitional beds and they will be short double that amount when Congress inacts Bush's budget.

Today Chairman Buyer was on c-span but you heard nothing from him on this situation. Brothers ans Sisters here on the DU we most take control of our Country again.Think about this you are one bad situation away from being on the streets just like these men and women who kept America free.






http://VETSFORMURTHA

[MadMaddie]

1. Monkeyman....this is so unacceptable...10000

beds short....how is that possible....? This administration is responsible for this.....and they should pay....

[Warpy]

2. What drove me absolutely nuts about the VA system

is the way the budget was compartmentalized, and forget about robbing Peter to pay Paul, it was all done by Congressional order.

Case in point: we were short nearly everything, but especially wheel chairs and oxygen tanks. At the same time, they erected 54 flag poles outside the joint to fly flags from all the states, the US and a couple of specialty flags. The running joke was that they'd melted the wheelchairs and tanks down and made the flagpoles out of them. The truth was that the VA had set aside a couple of million dollars for "ceremonial purposes," and this was the way they used it up.

There need to be some real structural changes within the VA system and clear priorities need to be set and budgeted accordingly. Just don't look for any conservative in either party to do that.

"Cruel" is the only word I can use for this bunch. They're so eager to fatten the rich in some pipe dream of largesse spreading outward from the mansions to include us all they've ignored the real world of human beings, some of whom were damaged by their own action and inaction.

[partylessinOhio]

3. This administration closed the VA Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio.

A few months ago the hospital which was built like a fortress was flattened by a wrecker's ball. I have tried unsuccessfully tried to find a photo of the hospital to post.

This hospital was still needed. It was only closed and flattened to save money so the rich could have their taxes cut.

Proposed shutdown of VA hospitals sparks torrent of protests

By Ben Dobbin
ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:08 a.m. October 28, 2003

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – Once a week, Frank Woods meets up with a dozen fellow World War II veterans to exorcise the nightmares and other chilling aftereffects of battles they fought more than a half-century ago.

"It really helps when you've got somebody to talk to," said Woods, 79, leaning on a cane in a courtyard at the Veterans Affairs hospital in this lake-shore town in western New York.

The 70-year-old hospital, which sits on 170 acres of tranquil parkland on the edge of open country, is one of seven around the country that could be closed as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs looks for ways to streamline its $26 billion health care network.

That threat drew more than 1,500 protesters, many in uniform, to a boisterous hearing last week before a federal commission charged with overseeing the biggest overhaul of the VA system since the end of World War II. ...

The proposed $4.6 billion restructuring would shutter hospitals in Canandaigua; Pittsburgh; Lexington, Ky.; Brecksville, Ohio; Gulfport, Miss.; Livermore, Calif.; and Waco, Texas. It would also downsize another dozen health centers around the country.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031028-0208-veteranshospitals.html

______________

AUGUST 12, 2003
CAPITAL ASSET REALIGNMENT FOR ENHANCED SERVICES (CARES) HEARING




TESTIMONY OF

CONGRESSMAN TIM RYAN

AUGUST 12, 2003


As a Member of Congress who represents more than 150,000 veterans and who is proud to serve on the House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee, I oppose the Department of Veterans' Affairs' (VA) plan to reorganize the health care delivery system for our nation's veterans. The draft proposal, now before the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhancement Services (CARES) Commission, calls for the closing of seven VA hospitals – including the VA facility in Brecksville, Ohio.



I urge the Commission to reject the VA proposal. I believe that the Department of Veterans Affairs' realignment plan is more than just bad policy, it is shameful. The veterans of our nation do not need less access to services, they need and deserve more.



Presently, there is a huge crisis in veterans' medical care. Veterans often wait six months or more to get a medical appointment. Tragically, some die before seeing a doctor. Even the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) estimates that there are more 110,000 veterans waiting for initial appointments for non-service related medical problems and, because of excessive delays in getting appropriate and timely treatment, the conditions are often more serious and the costs are significantly greater.



Veterans are feeling betrayed, and sadly, they have every reason to feel that way. On the heels of the largest tax cut in our nation's history, veterans are being told to wait longer, travel further, and pay more for the medical services they were promised. And now, the veterans of our nation and their families are asked to embrace a proposal that will eliminate VA facilities and, in turn, pose greater challenges to getting quality health care. Our veterans deserve better.



For northeastern Ohio, the closing of the Brecksville Veterans' Hospital will force the 48,000 veterans who are served by that facility to go elsewhere. In more immediate terms, it will mean the VA will displace 190 nursing home veterans, 175 homeless veterans and 80 inpatient veterans receiving mental health services. Under the draft plan, it remains unclear as to where most of these veterans will go. The proposal calls for the expansion of the Wade Park medical center complex. Yet even if construction funding materialized—which few have confidence will—the consolidation plan fails to recognize that Wade Park is already facing huge and growing patient backlogs. The draft plan also proposes to contract out some nursing home, inpatient mental health care, and homeless services to existing state and local programs. Again, the plan is flawed as it incorrectly assumes that the region has excess capacity. Like most areas of the country, such services and facilities are stretched beyond their limits. ...

http://timryan.house.gov/NR/exeres/0D9B535A-E28D-4F88-AD13-87B31BF90677.htm