Malliotakis Leads Bipartisan Letter to VA Regarding Next Steps to Support Veterans' Healthcare

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), together with Democrat Reps. Grace Meng (NY-06) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) today led the New York City Congressional Delegation in a bipartisan, bicameral letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Dennis R. McDonough regarding next steps to support VA Healthcare facilities in New York. The letter follows a group of Senators committing to block the VA's Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission from acting on recommendations to close VA hospitals across the country, including several in New York City.

Under the VA’s proposal, the Manhattan and Brooklyn VA Medical Centers would have closed 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, forcing veterans who are patients at the Staten Island clinic to travel upwards of two hours round trip and face a burdensome $16 toll to receive specialized treatment.  

"We strongly believe that veterans’ healthcare should stay public, accessible, affordable, and high-quality," the lawmakers wrote. "We were deeply concerned that the recommendations provided to the VA by the AIR process could have led to the closures of the Manhattan VA Medical Center and the Brooklyn VA Medical Center without guaranteeing their replacement. These medical centers are core teaching institutions for New York’s medical professionals in training, helping foster a strong healthcare workforce in New York. VA facilities also produce key medical research and innovation that helps not only veterans but all patients. The importance of VA healthcare facilities for our constituents cannot be overstated."

Malliotakis has spearheaded Congressional efforts to save New York City's VA hospitals, leading two rallies with local veterans and elected officials outside the Staten Island and Brooklyn VA clinics to protest the closures. Malliotakis has called on President Biden to denounce the AIR Commission's efforts and joined her colleagues in passing bipartisan legislation to redirect funding from the AIR Commission to other veteran healthcare programs.

Malliotakis added: "Stripping VA medical services from population centers that need them most is simply reprehensible. President Biden must denounce these recommendations and his Administration should be working with the New York delegation on what the next steps are to preserve and protect veterans' health care in New York City."

Additional cosigners of the letter include Senator Charles E. Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Representatives Yvette D. Clarke, Adriano Espaillat, Hakeem Jeffries, Carolyn B. Maloney, Gregory W. Meeks, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Thomas R. Suozzi, Ritchie Torres, and Nydia M. Velázquez.

To download a copy of the letter, click HERE.

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.