CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The U.S. Veteran Affairs Secretary visited Chillicothe on Friday with Ohio’s two senators in an effort to try and save the local Veteran Affairs Medical Center.
The center was recommended for closure last month in a report known as the AIR Commission, which was a study ordered under then-President Donald Trump in 2018. The report calls for the reduction in services offered in Chillicothe to veterans and the opening of more “regional” and smaller facilities, similar to urgent care. The recommendations have upset many locals, including employees of the hospital and veterans, who worry they will have to travel several hours for continued care and employment.
The visit on Friday by Secretary Denis McDonough came at the invitation of Ohio’s U.S. Senator, Sherrod Brown, who has been fighting to keep the campus open. Brown has visited Ross County and several surrounding communities nearly a dozen times in the last two weeks in roundtable discussions to meet with locals who would be impacted by the closure. Joining today was Ohio’s second senator, Senator Rob Portman, who is retiring at the end of the year.
“Under no circumstances will VA leave Chillicothe,” Secretary McDonough told reporters after his tour of the facility. “VA is committed to our veterans in every market in the country, and that is definitely true here in Chillicothe.”
McDonough said he was in town to listen to the workers at the hospital, the union, and most importantly, the veterans about their concerns over the report.
“The recommendation that was forwarded to the commission and published in the federal registry…it envisions a new facility that has a range of services that is a reflection of where healthcare is in the country today… the difference in what is outpatient [care] today is not what was outpatient ten years ago…. in all cases, we will stay here and maintaining the fundamental integrated healthcare that the VA provides, drawing on a network of capabilities that includes private network providers, CBOC clinics, and other Ohio providers.”
Senator Brown said that if the process goes forward, the data that was looked at in the report is expired in today’s age, given that the information was provided prior to the 2020 pandemic, which is not aligned with today’s healthcare needs.
“You can see from the process that the AIR Commission will receive information from each community …. as the [process] goes forward, most of the data was pre-pandemic and they don’t have enough information. We want to make sure the Secretary and the VA is equipped with how crucial this campus is to this community,”
Senator Portman agreed.
“We don’t like the recommendations, and to speak for myself, to set up a new facility makes no sense to me…. it would require a loss of jobs here if the recommendation was accepted.”
The next step in the process is that a commission will review the findings and make additional recommendations, which will go to Congress, who can accept or reject the report. The final stop is U.S. President Joe Biden’s desk, who will have the final say. The entire process, officials said, could take more than a year.
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