After the Department of Veterans Affairs closed a clinic in Rotterdam last month, lawmakers are pushing back on the department's claims that the closure hasn't negatively affected many veterans.
The approximately 1,600 veterans who were treated at the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Rotterdam will now go to VA-staffed clinics in Clifton Park and Albany.
A VA spokesperson said more than 80% of those veterans live closer to the site in Clifton Park, and that it will provide transportation to some veterans who need it.
The clinic's closure will save the department $1.5 million annually.
But lawmakers from New York State say they've heard from veterans in rural areas or with limited transportation options who say the clinic's closure has made it difficult to access healthcare.
"These are men and women who bore the brunt of wars and our national security,"
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said alongside veterans and other elected officials at a press conference Monday. "We said we would always provide their health care, and making them go —two hours in one direction and two hours back — four hours to receive basic health care-that's unacceptable."
Gillibrand and other lawmakers had previously written a letter requesting more information from VA Secretary Doug Collins. She says she still hasn't received a response.
The closure comes about five years after a VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic was closed in Troy in 2021.
