In The News
THE MONITOR: Health care, not a VA hospital, is priority: VA secretary while in McAllen
McALLEN, Texas,
September 14, 2015
Health care, not a VA hospital, is priority: VA secretary while in McAllen McALLEN — The first visit of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to the Rio Grande Valley on Monday, brought much excitement to the region, and for one Veteran in specific an opportunity to have his case heard again. Victor Zavala, a veteran with more than 20 years of service to the U.S. Army, decided to seize the opportunity and put a medication claim that had been previously rejected in the hands of the new decision maker. He never received any particular reason for the denial and local offices have been unable to address any of his concerns, Zavala said. He has been attempting to appeal the denial since 2010, he said, and is now hopeful this visit could at least bring awareness to the issues in the region. Zavala’s brief encounter with McDonald came during the secretary’s visit to the McAllen Veterans War Memorial of Texas, where the secretary addressed a group of veterans, local political and business leaders. The visit was followed by a luncheon at the McAllen Convention Center. But rather than getting much-anticipated news about a VA facility, McDonald’s visit focused on the need to best service veterans by improvements in customer service and the creation of partnerships with existing hospitals and the new medical school. The focus should be on the objective of providing the health care veterans deserve, he said, and not on a facility. If he began building a hospital today, he said, it would take more than five years to complete. McDonald’s visit began with a roundtable session at the University of Texas Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen where he was accompanied by Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-McAllen, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville. There, he said the conversation focused on the opportunities that the new medical school will bring to the table, such as training, research, and clinical work. Cornyn invited McDonald to the Valley in October 2014, and said one of his main concerns when it came to veterans in the region was their need to travel more than 200 miles to San Antonio to receive proper care. This has been an issue voiced by many Valley political leaders who have advocated for an inpatient facility in the region for many years. This year, however, a new ray of hope surfaced as Abbott signed SB 1463 that allows him to begin negotiations with the VA to bring a hospital to the Valley or to seek opportunities to partner with UT-System officials to provide these services. |