Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 - Continued

DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004-CONTINUED

Mr. DURBIN. I thank the chairman and the ranking Democrat for accepting this amendment on behalf of Senator Fitzgerald and myself. We are trying to encourage the cooperation of the North Chicago Veterans Hospital and the Great Lakes Training base for the benefit of the veterans, the sailors, and the taxpayers.

Ms. MIKULSKI. This is an excellent amendment. We concur.

Mr. BOND. This is something we need to do throughout the system, and we need to have a better integration of the health care facilities of the active military and the Veterans Affairs. I commend the Senators from Illinois and hope this model can be adopted elsewhere.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to thank the bill managers for accepting the amendment that I am offering today, along with Senator Fitzgerald, to encourage further sharing of health care facilities between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Navy in North Chicago, IL.

The Illinois delegation has worked in a bipartisan manner for four years to encourage sharing between the North Chicago VA Medical Center and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center (NTC) because of the proximity of the medical facilities. The Navy's hospital is 1A? miles from the North Chicago VA Medical Center, and the VA property adjoins Great Lakes NTC. The aim of the delegation was to keep the North Chicago VA Medical Center open, improve options for medical care for the Navy, improve training options for VA and Navy medical personnel, reduce costs, and improve access to health care for veterans and Department of Defense beneficiaries.

The VA's process to consolidate veteran's health care facilities in the Chicago area allowed the North Chicago VA Medical Center to stay open, but with the proviso that more sharing between the VA and the Navy would take place.

The Navy agreed to use the North Chicago VA Medical Center facilities as much as possible, in lieu of the Navy's outdated hospital, but renovation of a currently closed ward at the North Chicago VA Medical Center is required for a surgery suite, and the emergency and urgent care centers must be upgraded. The VA is planning to award a design contract for this work at the end of this year.

For its part, the Navy has agreed to build a new ambulatory care center that could be used for active duty military personnel as well as for veterans. It will be paid for out of the Navy's budget, but I believe that the VA should have input into the site selection. Having the ambulatory care center on or adjacent to the North Chicago VA Medical Center would make sense. The center will be used by both veterans and military personnel, and having it on or adjacent to the VA facility would ease veterans' access to it. The North Chicago VA Medical Center sits on a large tract of land, and, while the Naval base is accessible, it still requires gaining entry through the enhanced security procedures of a military base, making it more difficult for veterans if the center were physically on the base.

The amendment that Senator Fitzgerald and I offer today requires a report regarding the progress in modifying North Chicago VA Medical Center's surgical suite and emergency and urgent care centers for use by veterans and Department of Defense beneficiaries, demonstrating continued Congressional interest that these plans stay on track and on schedule. The amendment also requires that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs consult with the Secretary of the Navy to select the site for the ambulatory care center, in order to ensure a role for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in negotiations with the Secretary of the Navy on site selection.

I appreciate the efforts of the bill managers to work with us on this amendment and to include it in the managers' package.