Veterans and lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its decision to close a Schenectady County VA clinic.
William H. Frank is a Vietnam War veteran and a cancer survivor. He served as the Director of the Schenectady County Veterans Service Agency for 13 years until April 2023. Frank says the closure of the clinic will make accessing care more difficult for veterans in the area.
“Now, if they close it, it's like starting all over with my primary care," he said. "I'm sure they're good down there, but it's like anything else. You got to develop a rapport, and it's going to take a while. And I feel for a lot of the veterans who aren't as lucky as I am, where I can at least get a ride down to the VA hospital.”
Last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs sent a letter to veterans who are patients at the Schenectady Outpatient clinic, notifying them that their care would be transferred to clinics in Albany and Clifton Park.
The decision has generated bipartisan pushback from local, state, and federal officials.
New York U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat from the 20th District, says the closure is a result of cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by President Donald Trump last year.
Tonko says veterans in the Capital Region are not the only ones impacted.
“This is across the 50 states," he said. "So, they are essential services that are not evaporating. They're still required, and many people deserve these services. So, it comes, it trickles down, it percolates into the state government negotiations.”
New York state Sen. Jim Tedisco, a Republican, condemned the closure of the clinic, and says supporting veterans should not be a partisan issue.
"The one thing that never is a disagreement, but I think always brings us together, is our veterans, those who protect our freedom and liberty, those who put their lives on the line, those who are, who have been and are somewhere now trying to defend the United States and keep us free and safe," he said.
A spokesperson from the Department of Veterans Affairs says the decision to close the clinic was made in part because more than 80% of patients live closer to the clinic in Clifton Park in neighboring Saratoga County. But veterans like Ginger Kusec say the decision will only put more burden on doctors who already have a high caseload.
“You're taking away something I earned, something my fellow veterans, my comrades earned, because it's going to save money," she said. "But at the same time, you're cutting jobs at the VA down to the health care professionals, and you're not hiring. So that means wherever we go, the doctors are going to have a higher patient load.”
Kusec says while veterans in the area are organizing to assist each other with transportation to VA facilities, the closure of the clinic is a sign of a lack of care at the federal level.
“It's the federal government not caring, the federal government not standing by when they say they're going to take care of our veterans," she said. "They're not. Veterans organizations take care of their own.”
