Letter to the Hon. David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Queens Congressional Delegation Letter Calling for Rehabilitation of Hospital Facilities at St. Albans Community Living Center

Letter

Dear Secretary Shulkin:

We are reaching out as members of the Queens Delegation to inquire about the possibility of rehabilitating the hospital facilities at the St. Albans Community Living Center, located at 179-00 Linden Blvd, in Jamaica, Queens. While this location currently offers a slate of rehabilitative and primary care services for elderly veterans, there have not been hospital facilities on site since at least 1989.

As you are likely aware, Queens is home the largest number of veterans in the New York City area, and is the county with the third largest veteran population in the entirety of New York State, with nearly 59,000 veterans in need of access to medical services. Despite this, veterans from Queens are referred to the Brooklyn or Manhattan VA centers for ER services, acute care, and other specialized medical conditions.

As our borough's veteran population continues to age, it is likely that their medical needs will increase in both volume and complexity. As such, we would like to explore the feasibility of having the old hospital facilities on the St. Albans campus updated or rebuilt to modern standards. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We look forward to receiving your response.