Garza: Valley veterans' fight has an official name - Phase II
By Arturo 'Treto' Garza
HARLINGEN, Oct. 3 - It appears that Congressman Henry Cuellar really is a true friend of the veteran.
On Saturday at a press conference at the Harlingen VA Outpatient Clinic he again showed his commitment to the construction and maintenance of a VA hospital for deep south Texas.
In April, he, along with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, had stated that the Harlingen VA Outpatient Clinic was going to be expanded into a Surgical Center and that it would be sort of like a down payment toward the hospital. Prior to that, at the announcement of the Booz Allen Hamilton study, Cuellar told veterans not to get bogged down in semantics. As long as the VA provided full medical care to include emergency and inpatient care, it did not matter what the building was called. It could be called a Medical Center, a hospital, etc. Fact of the matter what mattered was full medical care for the veterans.
Well, at the press conference he explained to veterans that plans are going accordingly. He made public that Phase I is about to be completed with the grand opening of the new Surgical Center on January 18, 2011, and now the work to complete Phase II begins.
Cuellar and Congressmen Rubén Hinojosa and Solomon Ortiz told the veterans "the end goal is a Veterans hospital that will provide emergency and inpatient health care." They added that that is what they will be working now, Phase II, and that they understood the frustration on part of the veterans and made it clear that veterans must continue doing what they are doing. That is applying pressure and constantly keeping the issue alive.
Veterans applauded and by the sound of their loud applause and body language they more or less sent the message to the congressmen that they were ready to continue the battle. The congressmen also acknowledged the full cooperation of Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. They said it was a united effort and that Washington knows of our plight because of it. "Continue doing what you are doing, all that hard work is paying off" was the message that veterans received.
The press conference was called to announce the creation of the VA Texas Valley and Coastal Bend Health Care Services System which became autonomous of the South Texas Health Care System as of October 1, 2010. The new system will be independent of the San Antonio-based system. It will have its own budget, director, and will be competing for funds against other health care systems in the Texas/Oklahoma area. Up until now, most of the VA federal funds stayed in San Antonio.
The new health care system will cover a 20-county area from Laredo east toward Corpus Christi and everything south of that imaginary line. It has plans to expand the clinics in Laredo, McAllen and Corpus Christi. Contracts and bidding will start soon on those projects. It will be a busy year for the new health care system.
The Congressmen showed appreciation for the help being provided by Jeff Milligan, the director of the VA Texas Valley and Coastal Bend Health Care Services System. they said he was a capable administrator and right for the job at hand. Milligan has been working closely with veteran leaders and has kept them informed of the progress being made at the clinic. He has an open door policy and has been very aggressive in recruiting new veterans to enroll in the system. Numbers, numbers, numbers. That is what the VA in Washington looks at and Milligan constantly reminds veterans of this fact. At the press conference he stated that this year's annual budget for the system was $147 million. He told the congressmen that projections are that the new system would add about $39 million annually to the local economy.
So what does all this mean to veterans? In a sense it seems like a well thought out plan. Something that should have been revealed before to veterans instead of keeping them out of the loop. The Veterans Alliance has up to now, being trying to figure out the VA and the congressional delegation. It appears that they read them right if indeed such a plan existed. The Veterans Alliance voted to concentrate on Harlingen being the home of the flagship hospital for the new system. They made that known earlier this year and have gathered support from Harlingen as well as from other cities. Senator Cornyn was the one that suggested this "common sense" approach to solving the issue. The Veterans Alliance pushed for and obtained the support of the Texas Legislature to support and partner with the VA to make a VA hospital for the Valley a reality. And, at the press conference, Congressman Hinojosa repeated what veterans have been saying for the past two years that "there is a light at the end of the tunnel." Let us hope that that rings true.
On the other hand, maybe our congressional delegation read the veterans right and followed our lead. What is important is that veterans not give up on their pressure to continue demanding a VA hospital. It is needed and long overdue. At the press conference, Irene T. Garza made sure that each of the Congressmen received a newspaper article dated October 12, 1987, which states how long the veterans have been fighting this issue. She made them promise that they would read it. Congressman Cuellar looked at it and was surprised to see how long a battle it has been. Let’s hope that all of them read it and disseminate it to their colleagues. And, we have to be careful because Hinojosa thinks that we will be satisfied with ten beds. Ten beds will put us back to nada. The Booz Allen Hamilton study called for a 15-bed need and we did not agree at all with that recommendation. We are desperate, but not that desperate. We want a decent inpatient facility with enough beds to meet the need that is been shown with the new facts and numbers coming out through the hospital contracts. (Ironically that article appeared on "El dia de la Raza" back then.)
There are problems at the new system. They may be attributed to growing pains. Veterans should understand that our health care is improving a lot. Veterans must seek their medical health care from the Veterans Affairs. They must understand that the Veterans Affairs exists "to take care of the veteran, his widow and child." It is the legal duty of the Veterans Affairs to provide for a good quality of life for veterans. IT IS A MANDATE from Congress.
Whether it is political speak or whatever, the words sound pretty good. And I believe Congressman Cuellar. He has yet to let us down. He is the key to our success.
Arturo ‘Treto’ Garza is co-chair of the Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley. A Vietnam War veteran and commentator on veterans' issues, Garza is a resident of Harlingen, Texas. His Veterans Voice column appears weekly in the Rio Grande Guardian.
