Skip to Content

In the News

Pennsylvania state icon

Houlahan leads delegation in effort to save Coatesville VA

Washington, March 26, 2022
Tags: Veterans

Originally posted on Daily Local


U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan D-6th of Easttown, this week led a bipartisan letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs expressing concerns about the VA Recommendations to the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission, which proposed the closure of multiple facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania including in Coatesville and Philadelphia.

The Veteran’s Affairs Department has recommended closing 17 of its 171 medical centers, among them the Coatesville Veterans Administration Center in Caln Township. The recommendation is the first step in an asset and infrastructure review required by Congress in the Mission Act of 2018. It sets the VA’s vision for future health care delivery to more than 12 million veterans in the next 50 years.

VA officials cited a declining population, demographic changes, aging conditions of some facilities and difficulty in recruiting to justify its proposed closures.

“We understand that these recommendations were conducted in accordance with the VA MISSION Act of 2018, which was signed into law before many of us were elected to Congress and before you were appointed to your position,” the lawmakers wrote. “We also realize these are, at the moment, only recommendations to the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission and are not finalized. However, we are extremely concerned about the process for developing these recommendations and their potential impact on the healthcare provided to the veterans we serve.”

Under the nearly $2 trillion proposal released last month, the Veterans Affairs Department would lose a net of three medical centers and 174 outpatient health clinics but would gain 255 health care facilities, including new clinics, stand-alone rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.

The Coatesville VA has 302 operating beds and more than 1,300 employees, one of the largest employers in the region. It provides a wide range of health care services to more than 19,000 veterans in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

They added: “We are also deeply concerned that the recommendations consistently refer to non-VA community providers as having sufficient resources – staff and beds – to accommodate the increase in demand from veterans who currently receive care at the Coatesville VAMC, Philadelphia VAMC, and other community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) that the report identified for restructuring or closure. This data was compiled before the COVID pandemic and before multiple medical facilities in Southeastern Pennsylvania announced their closure. We believe that if the same research were done today, it would show drastically less capacity from community providers to adequately provide care to these veterans.”

Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Brendan Boyle (D-PA-02), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05), and Susan Wild (D-PA-07) joined the effort.

Houlahan will hold a Town Hall on Monday, March 28, at 9 and 10 a.m. to address the Coatesville VA situation.

“Veterans represent the best of our nation, and they deserve our care once they return home from war — a terrible reality we are seeing play out on televisions across the world right now,” said Houlahan. “When I heard about the proposed closure, I was rocked, to be frank. I’ve spent countless hours at the Coatesville VAMC with veterans and the dedicated staff who support them, and I will not stand for any loss of accessible, quality care. That’s why I wrote an open letter to VA Secretary McDonough rightfully expressing our concerns.”

The session will take place at City Hall takes place Monday, March 28, at 9-9:45 a.m. and the second Monday, March 28, from 10–11 a.m. Parking is available at City Hall and in adjacent lots. Moderator will be James Logan, Coatesville City Manager.