After months of concern about the future of care for veterans in New York's Capital Region, the VA's Schenectady Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Rotterdam is set to close Friday.
The VA first announced the clinic's closure in March. A department spokesperson says canceling their contract with the non-VA-operated clinic in the Schenectady area will save $1.5 million annually.
The more than 1,600 veterans treated at the clinic will now go to several other VA-staffed facilities, including in Clifton Park and Albany.
The decision has garnered bipartisan pushback from state and federal lawmakers. Most recently, U.S. senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, along with Congressman Paul Tonko, sent a letter Monday to Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins seeking more details about the closure.
The letter asks the VA to provide answers to seven questions about the VA's decision making process, staffing at other clinics in the area, transportation and jobs. The lawmakers asked for those answers to be provided on Thursday, the day before the clinic's scheduled closure.
"Any closure would impact healthcare access for the more than 1,500 veterans who rely on the personal care and relationships they have built at the facility by threatening their continuity of quality care," the lawmakers wrote. "This sudden plan to shut down the clinic cannot move forward until Capital Region veterans have the answers and assurances that the high-quality, local, and accessible care they need will continue without disruption or inconvenience."
Tonko, whose district includes the clinic, says the closure is short-sighted in light of the PACT Act, which expands services for veterans exposed to toxic substances like burn pits and Agent Orange.
"So as you bring on more veterans that are covered by that PACT Act, and as we go through this period of the Trump War in Iran, this is a bad move by the administration," Tonko said in an interview Monday.
A VA spokesperson said in a statement Monday that more than 80% of veterans seen at the Schenectady clinic live closer to the site in Clifton Park. Transportation will be provided to some veterans who need it.
