A Department of Veterans Affairs panel reviewing a plan to close seven VA hospitals across the country will hold a public hearing in Orlando on Sept. 10.
The Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services Commission, or CARES, will meet at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress beginning at 9 a.m. Commissioners will take testimony from invited speakers, including veterans organizations.
Under a draft of the plan, as envisioned by Anthony Principi, VA secretary, seven VA medical centers would be shuttered in Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and California.
At the same time, two new medical centers would open in Orlando and in Las Vegas, Larry Christman, the spokesman at the VA Medical Center at Bay Pines, said Wednesday. Another 48 new clinics would open as well, Christman said.
The plan, which would be implemented over the next 20 years, has been characterized as the department's most ambitious effort to match its services with large concentrations of veterans and catch up on the shift to outpatient care.
The CARES commission will hold hearings across the country and make recommendations to Principi in December.
