SOUTH TEXAS FULL SERVICE MEDICAL CENTER ACTION

Public Law 112-94 the Strategic Capital Investment Plan of 2012


During the closing of the year, veterans received good news from Washington DC. On December 23, 2011, President Barack Obama signed Public Law No. 112-94. This made House Bill 2055 law. Veterans are reminded that Congressman Henry Cuellar attached his HB 1318 to this bill back in June 2011. The title of 2055 was the Military &Veterans Affaris and Other Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

Cuellar's bill was not included per se in the final outcome of the bill, but what occurred was that the House passed the Bill by a 411-5 vote, Part of the vote accepted the House Committee Report presented at the hearing. The House Committee Report included the following language regarding the attachment: "Health care center expansions- Recognizing the lack of accessible VA services in many regions of the country, the Committee urges the Secretary to include in the VA Strategic Capital Improvement Plan the expansion of existing VA health care centers to include in-patient accommodations, urgent care services, and the full range of services required by women veterans when the absence of such services locally requires veterans to make round trips of more than five hours to access such services at a VA facility."

This language allows for the Veterans Affairs Strategic Capital Investment Plan to address the expansion of the Surgical Center in Harlingen. The Second Part of the Strategic Capital Investment Plan (SCIP) of 2012 mentions the Harlingen Clinic in the plan. You may find it on pages 8.3-239 to 83-246. It is now up to the Veterans Affairs to decide what is to be done in the future on our request. According to Lawrence Biro, District Director of VISN, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Lt. Gen. Eric Shinseki will be the person that will decide what is to be done.

Veterans should start directing their efforts toward Secretary Shinseki and his Deputy Director W. Scott Gould. These two individuals will play a very important role on SPIC. It is up to veterans to keep the issue alive at the VA. Now that the target has been identified, all efforts need to go to convincing Shinseki and Scott of the need to expand the Harlingen VA Surgical Center into a Full Service Medical Center.
 
Veterans in south Texas must not stop their efforts to get a Full Service Medical Center.  After a long five years of constant activity, this is as far as their efforts have gone.  They are not there yet, but it looks that Veterans are indeed one step closer to reaching their goal.