Virginia lawmakers Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine are encouraging the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to swiftly consider and reapprove authorization of 18 major Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility leases.
Included in the reauthorization is a lease for an outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, which was originally authorized under 2022 PACT Act and requires approval by several congressional committees.
The leases were originally authorized under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. However, updated cost estimates and rent bids triggered the VA and the General Services Administration (GSA) to seek reauthorization from four congressional committees: the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Only the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure committees have put forward resolutions to reapprove the leases.
In a letter to the leaders of the EPW Committee, the senators stressed the current challenges veterans in Hampton Roads are facing when trying to access care.
“One of these impacted leases is for a new outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads, with a proposed size of 182,230 net usable square feet. This proposed facility would serve a critical need in a high-density region that has increasing demand for VA services. Particularly for those veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads – home to more than 60 percent of the patient population at the Hampton VA Medical Center – this clinic would broaden care access, and provide increased services at a location more convenient to many of these veterans.”
According to the letter, veterans in the area of Hampton Roads are familiar with challenges when it comes to accessing care, and the VA has acknowledged in a self-assessment that the the area faces physical challenges, including frequent flooding and access difficulties for a majority of veterans because of traffic congestion.
“Hiring and recruitment challenges, in a state and region that are near the top of the list nationally in terms of share of veteran population, have contributed to challenges accessing timely care over the years. Looking forward, the VA estimates that the already sizable enrollee base in the region is expected to grow by upwards of 10 to 15 percent in the coming decades, leading to a patient population that could support multiple new VA medical centers and outpatient clinics,” the senators wrote.
Warner and Kaine have long fought to expand health care and benefits for Virginia’s nearly 700,000 veterans. They began raising the alarm about the significant backlog of unapproved VA leases in 2016. After putting significant pressure on officials across the federal government, Congress unanimously passed the Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act, legislation written by Warner and supported by Kaine, to cut the backlog and get more than 24 delayed VA medical facilities’ leases approved.
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Rebecca Barnabi
