Veterans happy VA facilities stay open
Say four centers in area necessary
Local veterans welcomed yesterday the US Department of Veterans Affairs decision to maintain its four Boston-area campuses, saying the centers offer critical and accessible services to people who are often distressed.
VA officials had considered closing facilities in Bedford, Brockton, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury and consolidating services.
Among the options the agency considered was closing all four campuses and building a large state-of-the-art medical center in Boston. Other possibilities included merging the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury facilities or shifting some services from Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford to the VA campus in Brockton.
Ultimately, the VA decided to scrap those ideas.
"The potential benefits to be gained from any consolidation do not justify the disruption to veterans or to our first-class healthcare system in Boston," Dr. James B. Peake, secretary of veterans affairs, said in a statement Monday.
The decision to keep the four VA campuses was a relief to George Egan, deputy commissioner of Boston's Department of Veterans Services.
"We need all these places open," he said.
Egan said his office regularly refers veterans to the four Boston area VA facilities.
"These kids coming home now, these kids need a lot of help," he said. Post-traumatic stress disorder "is coming into play a lot. Where they're fighting, there are bombs, we see lots of head trauma. They have a hard time coming back and have a horrible time adjusting."
Members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation also applauded the decision, which Senator Edward M. Kennedy described as "a victory for all the veterans in our region who have sacrificed so much for our country."
"A big cloud has been removed," Kennedy said in a news release.
Peake's announcement on Monday marked the end of a lengthy debate about how to restructure VA Boston Healthcare System and update the region's facilities.
The future of the four campuses had been in limbo since 2003, when the VA launched a nationwide initiative to streamline and update facilities.
PricewaterhouseCoopers was brought on board, at a cost of approximately $10.5 million, to study VA facilities at 18 sites across the country and identify ways to consolidate services and redevelop unused property.
Richard Hand Jr., a Brockton resident who served in the Marine Corps, said the local VA campuses need more funding for improvements immediately. In the past few years, while federal officials considered consolidation options, there was little investment in improving the existing VA facilities, Hand said. Major renovations were put on hold because no one knew which buildings would stay open.
"We've gone years without proper funding," said Hand, who serves as the legislative officer for Rockland American Legion Post 147 and the Brockton chapter of the Disabled American Veterans.
"I just hope someone speaks up and makes sure they enhance the services like they promised us," he said.
The VA is authorized to enter leases with private developers. In April 2005, the VA awarded a $60.5 million contract to MicroTech LLC to provide assistance with "enhanced-use lease" projects that benefit the VA.
Peake said there may be opportunities to lease out vacant land and buildings at the four Massachusetts campuses for housing, assisted-living facilities, and retirement communities for veterans.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.
