The Brooklyn Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) will continue to provide critical procedures like open heart surgery, joint reconstruction and appendectomies thanks to recent efforts led by U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY).
The New York Harbor Healthcare System proposed reducing critical services available at the Brooklyn VAMC in August, a move that would have required veterans to travel to Manhattan for procedures like inpatient surgeries, rehabilitation programs and other medical services.
“After discussing this matter extensively with my veterans’ roundtable, I asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider its proposal,” Donovan said on Tuesday. “Our veterans have sacrificed enough, and they shouldn’t have to trek to Manhattan for medical care. To their credit, the VA heard our concerns and decided to keep everything as is at the Brooklyn hospital. I’ll keep fighting for those who put everything on the line to defend our great country.”
In August, Donovan wrote in a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary David Shulkin that the proposal failed to take into account how difficult it would be for veterans to commute to Manhattan for critical services.
He also noted that the Manhattan VAMC was closed for months in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and during that time veterans relied on the Brooklyn VAMC for medical services.
Donovan’s efforts to retain critical medical services at the Brooklyn VAMC have been met with support from state and local officials, veterans’ advocacy group representatives, and local veterans.
“While to a bureaucrat looking at a map, the idea of making Staten Island veterans go to Manhattan for complex medical procedures might make sense, all Staten Islanders know the real negative effect this would have,” Staten Island Borough President James Oddo said. “Although not many miles away, we know Manhattan is truly a world’s away due to the time it takes to get there, not only for the veteran going in for these inpatient procedures, but also for his family members who would have to make the trip daily to visit their loved one.”
Kristen Rouse, an Army veteran and founding director of the New York City Veterans Alliance, also lauded Donovan’s work to reverse the VA proposal.
“We applaud the leadership of Congressman Donovan and the bipartisan advocacy of the many Brooklyn elected leaders who stood against closure and contraction of services at the Brooklyn VAMC,” Rouse said. “As our leaders and our community are well aware, we must focus on improving VA care for our city’s veterans, not reducing available options.”
Herbert Morales, the commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 154, said that as a disabled Vietnam War veteran living in Brooklyn, traveling to Manhattan for care would have presented “severe hardship.”
“There is no parking at this facility and I am not able to travel there by bus or train,” Morales said. “Thanks to Congressman Donovan and all involved for working to keep medical services at the Brooklyn VA hospital and for helping all the veterans with these issues.”