Malliotakis to Biden: Commit to Keeping our VA Hospitals Open

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) yesterday sent a letter to President Biden urging him to publicly denounce the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) recommendations to the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission to close VA hospitals across the country as a bipartisan group of Senators has committed to blocking the AIR Commission from proceeding. Biden's VA has promised to continue with the work of the AIR Commission despite the Senate's announcement.

"Despite a bipartisan group of Senator's recent statement promising to block the AIR Commission from proceeding, I, and the veterans I represent would like a commitment from you to ensure our local VA medical facilities will continue to operate as normal," Malliotakis wrote. "Under the VA's recommendations, my district, which encompasses Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, would see the complete closure of our Brooklyn VA Medical Center and the realignment of our Staten Island VA Multi-Service Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to the New Jersey Market, causing great distress among veterans not just in my district, but thousands more in other boroughs who utilize these facilities on a daily basis."

In March, Malliotakis led two rallies with local veterans and elected officials outside the Staten Island and Brooklyn VA clinics to protest the closures. Under the VA’s proposal, the Manhattan and Brooklyn VA Medical Centers would close entirely, contracting out inpatient and outpatient services to private medical providers as part of a new “strategic collaboration.” While veteran mental-health services would be expanded on Staten Island, the clinic would merge with a VA medical campus in New Jersey. This means veterans who are patients at the Staten Island clinic would be forced to travel upwards of two hours round trip and face a burdensome $16 toll to receive specialized treatment.  

As of 2019, there were 138,000 veterans living in the New York City metropolitan area according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with 75 percent being senior citizens. The Brooklyn VA Medical Center and Manhattan VA Medical Center service roughly 1,000 veterans every day (M-F) for outpatient appointments. 

Malliotakis added: "Stripping VA medical services from population centers that need them most is simply reprehensible, which is why I request that your Administration publicly denounce these recommendations and halt the AIR Commission process once and for all. Our veterans have given so much to our nation and they deserve the highest standard of care during and following their service."

To download the full text of Malliotakis' letter, click HERE.