Blumenthal Pitches $500 Million For VA Healthcare System Upgrades In CT, Says Much More Is Needed

by Hudson Kamphausen CTNewsJunkie

WEST HAVEN, CT – More federal funding could be coming to healthcare facilities for Connecticut veterans in the near future, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday.
Speaking at the West Haven VA Medical Center, Blumenthal said he is a co-sponsor on a bill that would bring $500 million of federal funding to Connecticut to help upgrade and build new facilities for healthcare for veterans could pass Congress “within the next couple of months.”
Blumenthal said more funding is needed to bring the facilities into the 21st century, adding that the buildings themselves should match the care taking place within.

“What we have needed in West Haven for a long time is new construction and renovation that will match the quality of care provided by these very effective professionals,” he said. “The fact is we have some of the best professionals, and some of the oldest facilities.” 
The Fiscal Year 2024 Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Authorization Act would add $500 million to the $153 million that was already appropriated in the 2024 federal budget for facility repairs, including constructing a new surgical and clinical care tower and making other upgrades and repairs to Buildings 1 and 2 on the VA campus, which house all of the institution’s inpatient care and community living center respectively.
“Many of the most modern surgical and other clinical techniques are impossible because the buildings are aged, or aging,” Blumenthal said, adding later, “The fact is the facilities themselves are dated, and some of them are actually decrepit.”

Some of the funding has also gone toward remaking some other parts of the campus, including the ongoing construction of a parking garage next to Building 2.
The bill is currently in the Veterans Committee – of which Blumenthal is a member – and has “strong bipartisan support,” according to the senator. Blumenthal said that he is optimistic about the future of the bill, because it splits funding – about $4.6 billion in total – across both Republican- and Democrat-controlled states alike.
The funding will be distributed among 11 facilities in those different states.

“We’re talking about more than just real money, we’re talking about a ton of money. But it is well deserved and much needed,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal said he has had continual conversations with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough about the current state of healthcare facilities for the nation’s veterans, and that he is receptive but said: “We need to find the money.” 
Dr. Becky Rhoads, executive director of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, said Monday that she is thankful for Blumenthal’s support and effort in securing more funding for repairing and replacing the facilities that need it.