By David A. Diaz - Legislative Media
For the first time Texas government would be required to invest key resources including financial support to help bring a federal Veterans Administration Hospital to the Rio Grande Valley thanks to a bill by Rep. Ismael Kino Flores D-Palmview which was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday April 23.
Flores proposal House Bill 2217 was passed unanimously by the full House and now will go to the Senate for their review and action.
According to the bill analysis of Flores measure HB 2217 would amend the Government Code to require the Texas Veterans Commission and the Department of State Health Services to work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and any other appropriate federal agency to propose that the federal government establish the VA Hospital.
By bringing the resources and expertise of these two state agencies into this partnership we could wind up having the state government provide the land and build the VA Hospital and have the federal government pay to operate and maintain the hospital Flores envisioned.
In a related measure Paul Herrera the State Commander for the American G.I. Forum of Texas endorsed Flores effort to commit the power of the state on behalf of the long-sought federal medical health care complex.
Herrera said the need for the VA Hospital is great because for too long federal and state governments have historically under-served the veterans who have health issues and problems.
The Rio Grande Valley has been in dire need of a critical care full-service VA Hospital for decades. For many years veterans and the American G.I. Forum have advocated and put forth resources with tireless efforts for this message to be heard Herrera said. The American G.I. Forum finds it appropriate and important that the state of Texas join thousands of veterans in pursing this endeavor.
Although there has been recent political progress on the VA Hospital issue more needs to be done Flores said.
In February the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) finalized contracts with Valley Baptist Health System in Cameron County and with South Texas Health System in Hidalgo County to provide inpatient surgical emergency and mental health services to veterans enrolled in the VA benefits program Flores said. While this is positive news for veterans in the Valley there is still a vital need for a full-fledged veterans hospital. The nearest hospital is approximately 300 miles away in San Antonio which given the rising cost of travel may be prohibitive for some patients.
Flores was making reference to the Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital which is a 268 bed facility providing primary secondary and tertiary health care in medicine surgery psychiatry and rehabilitation medicine. It also supports a 90 bed Extended Care Therapy Center a 30-bed Spinal Cord Injury Center an eight-bed Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and a Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.
The Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital is affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
According to the VA almost 20000 veterans from 30 South Texas counties including the Rio Grande Valley received some type of medical care from the VA as of September 30 2008. That figure does not include the estimated total number of veterans living in that region.
The VA estimated that the federal government spent more than $400 million in medical and health care for those patients during the one-year period that ended September 30 2008.
According to those latest estimates more that 26000 veterans from Hidalgo County received VA medical care valued at more than $100 million and more than 18000 veterans from Cameron County received VA medical care valued at more than $73 million.
Veterans from Starr and Willacy counties who received VA medical care at of September 30 2008 numbered more than 2200 with the cost for their health care totaling more than $10 million combined.
The Texas Veterans Commission provides services tailored to the needs of veterans and their families including taking the lead in coordinating efforts of service providers sharing of resources providing innovative and effective training and developing a partnership with other levels of government to achieve the highest quality of service in assisting the veterans their families and their survivors.
The Department of State Health Services includes collaborative efforts of various local state and federal entities and programs to ensure the availability of a system of resources and referrals for members of our military service veterans and their families.
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