Malliotakis Statement on Progress in Effort to Block Biden's VA Hospital Closures

Statement

Today Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) released the following statement after a bipartisan group of Senators committed to blockingthe Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission's recommendations to close VA hospitals across the country. Malliotakis has been leading the charge to save the Brooklyn VA Hospital from closing.

"It's completely unacceptable that the Biden Administration proposed closing veteran hospitals across the country including two right here in New York City," Malliotakis said. "I've been working diligently with veterans' organizations and House and Senate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to stop these proposed closures and protect the services so many veterans in our community rely on. The Senate's commitment to block the AIR Commission's recommendations is a key victory, however, we will continue to be vigilant and vocal and won't stop working to protect these facilities until the President definitively says any proposal from the AIR commission is dead on arrival."

In March, Malliotakis led two rallies with local veterans and elected officials outside the Staten Island and Brooklyn VA clinics to protest the closures. Under the VA's proposal, the Manhattan and Brooklyn VA Medical Centers would close entirely, contracting out inpatient and outpatient services to private medical providers as part of a new "strategic collaboration." While veteran mental-health services would be expanded on Staten Island, the clinic would merge with a VA medical campus in New Jersey. This means veterans who are patients at the Staten Island clinic would be forced to travel upwards of two hours round trip and face a burdensome $16 toll to receive specialized treatment.

As of 2019, there were 138,000 veterans living in the New York City metropolitan area according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with 75 percent being senior citizens. The Brooklyn VA Medical Center and Manhattan VA Medical Center service roughly 1,000 veterans every day (M-F) for outpatient appointments.

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