The wait is finally over for VA clinics
Published 7:15 pm Sunday, August 3, 2014
The wait is over for the more than 50,000 veterans in south Louisiana. Congress this week approved veterans reform legislation that authorizes funding for the long-delayed Veteran Affairs clinics in Lake Charles and Lafayette.
The Louisiana delegation has worked to hold the VA accountable after a long road of setbacks. The first delay came when the VA admitted to bureaucratic errors that caused the cancellation of the first round of bidding for the clinics’ construction, noted Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette.
After four years of looking at required square footage, VA officials realized they needed to request congressional approval for these two leases.
Later, the Congressional Budget Office changed its treatment of VA leases, placing the future of these clinics and the entire VA leasing program in legislative limbo, he said, adding that these setbacks forced thousands of Louisiana veterans to travel three hours for needed care, while others went without needed care.
A bipartisan deal was reached in conference committee late Sunday night, and the details of the bill were announced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs panel, and his House counterpart, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., in a news conference Monday afternoon.
The bill is designed to improve veterans’ health care and would authorize at least $17 billion to fix a health program tarnished by long patient wait times and misrepresentation of records.
The agreement contains $10 billion in emergency spending to make it simpler for veterans who cannot get timely appointments with VA doctors to get outside care; $5 billion to hire doctors, nurses and other medical staff; and about $1.5 billion to lease 27 new clinics across the country.
Groundbreaking of both clinics is expected to begin in six months, said Tammie Arnold, public affairs officer at the Alexandria VA Health Care System. The Lake Charles clinic is predicted to be built in a year, which is six months ahead of the Lafayette clinic.
The Lake Charles clinic will be a renovation, while the Lafayette clinic will take longer because it will be a new building. The address of the Lake Charles clinic cannot be released until the lease is signed, Arnold said.
The south Louisiana clinics cannot come soon enough. Veterans have earned the right to accessible and adequate health care.
