Letter to Robert McDonald, Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Finger Lakes Vets Should Not Have To Travel Hours Away For The Care They Need

Letter

Dear Secretary McDonald,

We write to request the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) move expeditiously to finalize a contract to establish dedicated acute psychiatric beds to serve veterans in the Rochester-Finger Lakes, New York region. According to information provided by the VA in response to a FOIA request from the Finger Lakes Veteran Advisory Council in an eleven month period from October 2012 to August 2013, over 170 veterans were transferred for acute psychiatric care from Canandaigua and Rochester Veterans Affairs mental health clinics to Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany psychiatry inpatient units since psychiatric inpatient beds are not available in the Finger Lakes region. This has put a significant burden on our disabled veterans and their families who travel multiple hours to receive the appropriate care.

The Finger Lakes Veterans Advocacy Council is a local organization that fights for the rights of veterans in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Through their unwavering commitment and tireless advocacy to our region's veterans, they have given a voice to thousands of veterans throughout the Finger Lakes. While it has come to our attention that the Department of Veterans Affairs is working on a contract with a Finger Lakes health facility located within a thirty minute drive of Canandaigua and/or Rochester to create six new acute psychiatric inpatient beds close to the Canandaigua VA, we are concerned by estimates that it will take approximately 18 months for this contract to be finalized and for beds to made available. According to the FOIA request by the Finger Lakes Veterans Advocacy Council, the average length of stay in the Albany, Buffalo, and Syracuse acute psychiatric units is 10.45 days. It is unacceptable that our country's servicemen and women are being separated from their loved ones for such lengths of time to receive the necessary care.

Therefore, we request that the VA expedite and prioritize the execution of this contract in the near term. Eliminating the burden of traveling hours to receive the necessary care will better enable our veterans to receive support from family and friends living in the area. Our veterans have sacrificed for our nation and deserve care that is second to none. We must stand with our nation's veterans and ensure they receive the acute psychiatric care they require.

We ask that you give this request your full consideration.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator

Source