NEW YORK: Rio Grande Valley veterans have high expectations from a series of meetings scheduled to take place. Veterans Administration Secretary Robert McDonald is scheduled to tour several Valley locations. “This is an unprecedented event, never happened before.
What we are seeing here, what’s going to transpire, is not the end of the effort that we initiated here in 2005, when a bunch of us, veterans, marched to San Antonio to draw attention to our veterans’ plight here in deep south Texas,” Felix Rodriguez with Hidalgo County Veterans Services said.It will be the first time a VA secretary has visited the Valley. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, as well as members of the Valley’s congressional delegation will be on hand.
“We want the veterans’ community to know that this is a united effort,” said Rodriguez. “This is the time for all veterans to come together and visit the Veterans Administration Secretary.”For years, Valley veterans’ organizations have pushed for the establishment of a full inpatient hospital.“That is just one issue that we wish to submit to the secretary for his consideration,” Rodriguez added. “One is that the VA partner, with our school of medicine, in paying for the inpatient healthcare that we expect, will be provided by the school of medicine.
There was a law that was enacted in the legislature in Austin, this last session that calls for the dedication of a wing at the school of medicine. And that the inpatient healthcare that would be provided to veterans at the school of medicine will be billed to the VA.”In recent years, the Veterans Administration has had a history in falling behind on payments to outside medical providers, who had agreements to treat veterans.
