With WNY Vets Struggling To Access Much-Needed Care, Schumer Urges VA To Expand Veterans Health Services To Bertrand Chaffee Hospital In Springville, NY

Press Release

With WNY Vets Struggling To Access Much-Needed Care, Schumer Urges VA To Expand Veterans Health Services To Bertrand Chaffee Hospital In Springville, NY

Vets Across the Rural Southern Erie and Cattaraugus Counties Currently Struggle to Access Needed Medical Care Because They Must Travel up to 50 Miles to the Nearest VA Facilities

Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville Hopes to Serve Veterans and Deliver Critical Medical Services to Vets Across WNY

Schumer Urges VA to Expand Services to Bertrand Chaffee, As Well as Pay Special Attention to Services for Increasing Pool of Women Vets as Project Moves Forward

With veterans across southern Erie and Cattaraugus counties struggling to access much-needed and deserved medical services, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand veteran's health services to Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville, New York. Veterans in Western New York currently have to drive as much as fifty miles to existing VA facilities to get care, and combined with Western New York's dramatic weather, this presents a special hardship. In response to this gaping hole in VA care, Bertrand Chaffee has stepped up and expressed a desire to serve veterans at their facility in Springville.

Today, in a letter to VA Secretary James B. Peake, Schumer urged the federal agency to begin the contracting process so that Erie and Cattaraugus veterans have access to high quality medical services. The Senator also asked the VA to pay special attention to providing adequate services for the increasing number of women veterans who are returning home.

"It's unacceptable that our deserving vets across Western New York have so few options when it comes to health care," said Schumer. "Western New York vets have earned the right to the highest quality of care we can provide, and it's essential we work hard to ensure they receive top-notch, quality health care. Bertrand Chaffee Hospital has expressed real interest in plugging the gap in New York's veteran care system, and now it's the federal government's turn to step up and make this a reality."

In response to the lack of adequate medical care for Western New York veterans, Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville, New York has expressed a desire to expand their services to include veterans. Bertrand Chaffee CEO Paul DeSantis is a strong supporter of veterans and increasing local access to health care, Schumer noted, and is ready to begin discussions that, if successful, would result in a win-win for all parties involved -- the VA, Bertrand Chaffee and the veterans they both serve.

The Senator also asked that the increasing need for health services specific to female veterans be taken into account as discussions about the Bertrand Chaffee clinic begin. "I ask that as you move forward with the new services for Western New Yorkers that special attention be made to co-locating and coordinating services that support the special medical needs of our women veterans," Schumer wrote.

Schumer has long been a champion of increasing access to adequate health care for veterans across New York State. In March of this year he visited the Women's Wellness Center at Buffalo's VA Clinic to commend them for their exemplary, cutting-edge approach to veteran's health care, as well as to unveil a new Women Veterans Health Agenda to improve the nation's VA system and increase medical services for returning women veterans.

"The brave men and women in Western New York who put their lives on the line for America should not have to travel hither and yon to access vital medical care," said Schumer.

The agenda includes increasing the number of specialized women's VA health centers or clinics throughout the nation, reviewing the services and coordination of health care provided to women veterans, requiring at least one fulltime expert in women's health at every VA medical center, enhanced training programs for women health providers and other crucial improvements.

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