VA hospital for South Texas

January 24, 2012

Harlingen, TX
@ Regional Office of Senator John Cornyn

Veterans met with Ana Maria Garcia, South Texas Regional Director & Community Outreach Advisor for Senator John Cornyn.at the Senator's Harlingen office to discuss the Veterans Affairs Strategic Capital Investment Plan (SCIP) and what it means to south Texas veterans. SCIP has been formed to address the health care needs of veterans for the next ten years. The SCIP plan mentions the Surgical and Ambulatory Medical Center in Harlingen, TX. Veterans are asking the senator's office to find out if the Harlingen Surgical Center will on the priority list of proyects to be addressed. The SCIP was made possible with the passing of Public Law No. 112-74 on December 23, 2011. This is the end result of the Military & Veterans Affairs and Other Related Agencies Construction Appropriations Bill 2055. Congressman Henry Cuellar had attached his bill (HB 1318), which calls for the expansion of the South Texas Surgical Center into a Full Medical Services Center, to this legislation in June 2011. Veterans are indeed one step closer to reaching their goal.

"It is not a done deal" states Joe Ibarra, "but at least we know where to concentrate our efforts and the target is Lt. Gen. Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. According to Lawrence A. Biro, Network Director for VISN 17, it will be up to the Secretary to decide whether he should submit a plan for expansion. At the moment he awaits instructions. However he did mention that there was no one working on a plan right now.

Pete Garza, Commander of DAV Chapter 121 added "that a lot of work needs to be done to keep up the progress made on the VA hospital. We need to move forward on this, not backwards." Ana Garcia told the veterans that she would relay their concerns to the Senator's Washington DC's office of Military & Veterans Affairs person, Dave Hanke. She listen to other suggestions presented to her at the meeting. She told the veterans that they must continue their efforts, that too much work has been done. The Senator supports your efforts.

                                          Pete Garza, Treto Garza, Ana Garcia, Joe Ibarra

                                          L-R Pete Garza, Irene T. Garza, Ana Maria Garcia, Joe Ibarra
 
Present at the meeting with Ana Maria Garcia, were Joe Ibarra, (Ret. Army War Veteran), Pete Prax Garza (USMC), Arturo Treto Garza, (USMC) and Irene T. Garza.

Public Law 112-94 the Strategic Capital Investment Plan of 2012

During the closing of the year, veterans received good news from Washington DC.  On December 23, 2011, President Barack Obama signed Public Law No. 112-94.  This made House Bill 2055 law.  Veterans are reminded that Congressman Henry Cuellar attached his HB 1318 to this bill back in June 2011.  The title of 2055 was the Military &Veterans Affaris and Other Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.
Cuellar's bill was not included per se in the final outcome of the bill, but what occurred was that the House passed the Bill by a 411-5 vote,  Part of the vote accepted the House Committee Report presented at the hearing.  The House Committee Report included the following language regarding the attachment: "Health care center expansions- Recognizing the lack of accessible VA services in many regions of the country, the Committee urges the Secretary to include in the VA Strategic Capital Improvement Plan the expansion of existing VA health care centers to include in-patient accommodations, urgent care services, and the full range of services required by women veterans when the absence of such services locally requires veterans to make round trips of more than five hours to access such services at a VA facility."

This language allows for the Veterans Affairs Strategic Capital Investment Plan to address the expansion of the Surgical Center in Harlingen.  The Second Part of the Strategic Capital Investment Plan (SCIP) of 2012 mentions the Harlingen Clinic in the plan.  You may find it on pages 8.3-239 to 83-246.  It is now up to the Veterans Affairs to decide what is to be done in the future on our request.  According to Lawrence Biro, District Director of VISN, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Lt. Gen. Eric Shinseki will be the person that will decide what is to be done.

Veterans should start directing their efforts toward Secretary Shinseki and his Deputy Director W. Scott Gould.  These two individuals will play a very important role on SPIC.  It is up to veterans to keep the issue alive at the VA.  Now that the target has been identified, all efforts need to go to convincing Shinseki and Scott of the need to expand the Harlingen VA Surgical Center into a Full Service Medical Center.