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Motion expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County encouraging the state legislature to pass House Resolution 426, which recognizes the impact that possible closure of two veteran's hospitals in western Pennsylvania would have on the health care of veterans; and further, requesting that Congress reaffirm its commitment to quality health care for veterans.
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WHEREAS, the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission, created by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has been involved in a national planning process designed to meet the health care needs of veterans over the next twenty years;
WHEREAS, the CARES planning process has included an analysis and identification of where underserved veteran populations are located, facilities have low demand, or there are duplications in services in areas where VA facilities are in close proximity to one another;
WHEREAS, area veterans learned of proposed plans to consolidate services by shutting down the Highland Drive VA Hospital in East Liberty or by moving its services to an expanded VA Hospital in Oakland within the next ten to twelve years;
WHEREAS, the Highland Drive facility provides comprehensive psychiatric treatment for veterans, including treatment for substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia; in addition, the facility sponsors a homeless veterans program and a regional center for the treatment of former prisoners of war;
WHEREAS, the Highland Drive facility also serves this region as a backup to the Department of Defense's health care system in time of national emergency, as the National Liver and Renal Transplant Center, Regional Cardiac Surgery Center, Oncology Network Center and Dialysis Center; and further, is part of the Pittsburgh Healthcare System that supports three veterans outreach centers in Pittsburgh, McKeesport, and Wheeling, West Virginia;
WHEREAS, the United States has a responsibility to all of its military personnel, including veterans, to meet their medical needs throughout their lives yet currently there is a waiting list of six months to a year for basic health care nationwide; and
WHEREAS, such insufficiencies in existing care would not be addressed through the elimination or merger of area facilities, further jeopardizing the need to meet the health care needs of area veterans.
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, AND IT IS THE SENSE OF THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, that we encourage the state legislature to pass House Resolution 426, which recognizes the impact that the possible closure of two veteran's hospitals in western Pennsylvania would have on the health care of veterans; and further, request that Congress reaffirm its commitment to quality health care for veterans.
BE IT FURTHER MOVED that copies of this motion be transmitted to the Governor of the Commonwealth, the Members of the General Assembly from Allegheny County, the Members of the United States House of Representatives from Allegheny County, and the Members of the United States Senate from Pennsylvania.