FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2004
SCHUMER PRESSES PRINCIPI ON DELAY IN CANANDAIGUA VA HOSPITAL
DECISION
CARES Commission recommended keeping Canandaigua VA hospital open
in Feb; VA Secy tells Schumer delay in his final decision does not
indicate change in mind about hospital's fate
Schumer also pushes for date when decision can be expected; Principi
estimates within three weeks
US Senator Charles E. Schumer today pressed VA Secretary Anthony
Principi about his unexpected delay in announcing the fate of the
Canandaigua VA hospital. Principi, who was expected to decide earlier
this month whether to approve a plan to keep the hospital open and
move 50 psychiatric beds to the Batavia and/or Buffalo VA facilities,
assured Schumer last night that the delay does not indicate a change
in the plan to keep the facility open and said a final announcement
was likely to come within three weeks.
"Secretary Principi has been good to the Canandaigua community.
He met with us when we asked him to. He visited the facility in
person when we invited him and all accounts are that he will keep
the hospital open. However, the recent delay in issuing a final
decision made some people nervous and I wanted to make sure that
no news was not bad news. Secretary Principi assured me that the
delay has nothing to do with Canandaigua and that a decision is
likely to be handed down within three weeks," Schumer said.
The CARES Commission released its plan in February to keep the
facility open while moving 50 psychiatric beds to the Buffalo and/or
Batavia VA facilities. While the plan to keep the hospital open
was a significant victory, Schumer said that moving the beds to
another facility could result in unnecessary additional costs because
it could require hiring and training new staff there. Schumer also
said that veterans in the Finger Lakes area who have come to rely
on those services should not have them taken away.
Now that the Commission has issued its plan, it is up to VA Secretary
Anthony Principi to either accept or reject it. Principi was initially
expected to make a decision earlier this month but has not issued
any public indication of when he will issue his final recommendation.
Schumer called Principi Wednesday night to ensure that he had not
changed his mind about keeping the hospital open and to get a firm
deadline for when the announcement can be expected. Principi assured
Schumer that the cause for the delay was unrelated to his decision
about Canandaigua and instead due to budgetary and other unrelated
issues. Principi also said that the final announcement could come
as early as the end of next week and likely by the week of April
19th.
Earlier this year, the VA released its Draft National Plan which
recommended closing the 70 year-old Canandaigua veteran's hospital,
and sending roughly 200 inpatients and thousands of outpatients
to more distant VA hospitals in Bath, Batavia, Buffalo, and Syracuse.
Currently, the hospital administers medical services to an enrolled
population of 25,000 area veterans in Canandaigua each year and
cares for about 200 severely ill inpatients. In addition, the hospital
employs an estimated 800 workers and is one of Ontario County's
largest employers.
In response, Schumer, the delegation and the community mounted
a furious lobbying campaign to keep the hospital open. Schumer arranged
an in-person Congressional delegation visit with VA Secretary Anthony
Principi in Washington, called him regularly to lobby him, and convinced
him to come to Canandaigua to see the hospital in person. At a public
hearing at the facility in October, Schumer presented the CARES
commission with a petition signed by about 80,000 New Yorkers concerned
about the planned closing. In response to the grassroots campaign,
the CARES Commission reversed itself and recommended keeping the
facility open.
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