Will the feds close a VA health clinic in Paterson? Pascrell vows fight

PATERSON — The federal government is considering shutting down an outpatient veterans health clinic in Paterson that served 1,385 former members of the armed forces in 2019.

Veterans who use the Paterson clinic would be directed to a larger facility in Hackensack, according to the preliminary recommendations for a nationwide restructuring of health services for veterans.

The changes are designed to adapt to anticipated shifts in the size and location of the country’s veteran population, officials said.

The Paterson outpatient clinic is one of 11 operated in New Jersey by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, in addition to two larger medical facilities for veterans in East Orange and Lyons. Under the VA’s preliminary recommendations, the federal agency would open a new outpatient clinic in Toms River, an area where officials say the veteran population is growing.

But the plan already faces opposition from elected officials in Passaic County, including Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who sent a letter Thursday to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough. Pascrell said in that letter that he successfully fought for the opening of the Paterson clinic in 2004 because the outpatient veteran programs in Hackensack and East Orange were badly overcrowded.

“I call on you to retract this poorly advised and reckless decision that will hurt our veterans,” the congressman said to the secretary.

Pascrell also said the research upon which the VA based its recommendations came under criticism from the federal Government Accountability Office for discrepancies and incomplete data.

“This decision directly harming veterans in our district and across North Jersey is built on a faulty foundation,” the congressman wrote. “The VA cannot rely on flawed data to make momentous facility closure decisions that will impact thousands of Americans who rely for their very lives on VA resources.”

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The Passaic County Board of Commissioners and Paterson City Council also are planning to adopt resolutions opposing the shutdown.

The final decisions on restructuring veteran health care facilities won’t be made until 2023 by President Joe Biden, said VA communications officer Christine Betros Farrell. In between now and then, an independent panel called the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission will evaluate the VA’s recommendations from a March report and decide which should be passed along to the president for approval, Betros Farrell said.

“Veterans will always be at the center of what we do,” the spokesperson said. “The AIR Commission is an opportunity to redesign VA health care to maximize access and outcomes for current and future generations of Veterans.

“It is important to note that any recommendations to the upcoming AIR Commission are just that—recommendations,” added Betros Farrell. “Nothing is changing now for Veteran access to care or VA employees.”

The VA’s March announcement about the restructuring report did not say whether the proposed changes would reduce or increase spending on veterans’ health care. The VA report said the Paterson clinic served 1,385 “unique” patients in 2019, a 17.4% reduction in its caseload compared to 2015. Charts included in the report showed that six of the VA outpatient clinics had heavier caseloads than the one in Paterson on Getty Avenue. That group included the Hackensack facility as well as others located in Brick, Hamilton, Piscataway, Morristown and Tinton Falls.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ veterans health clinic may be closed