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Vets hope to save Montrose VA hospital

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Veterans hope to save Montrose VA hospital

By BRIAN J. HOWARD

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: April 17, 2006)

MONTROSE — Bill Grzybowski spent many sleepless nights reliving the memory of one fateful day in 1982.

He and his fellow Marines were resting in a field of tall grass at midday, weary from loading cargo onto aircraft, when an out-of-control forklift cut across the field toward him and struck and killed the man beside him.

For Grzybowski, a resident of the Montrose veterans hospital's post-traumatic stress disorder unit, reliving that day is part of his recovery. Art therapy — sculpting, in particular — lets him think about something else for a while.

"They want you to relive it, and it was hard enough to get through it the first time," he said, staring blankly at the clay forms that have been his emotional outlet. "I was kind of in a shell inside. I wanted to explain that I was terrified. This kept my attention."

The FDR Campus of the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System, as it is officially known, is different things to different veterans: a place for routine medical care, a place to grow old, even a place to rebuild a broken life.

To the Department of Veterans Affairs, though, it is a costly, underused facility like many across the country, a virtual city with its own police and fire stations, a sewage treatment plant, a boiler plant, water towers, a chapel and a child-care center.

A consortium, Montrose Elders, is waiting for approval to redevelop 11 buildings on the FDR Campus. That plan though, is on hold.

Since opening in 1950, the hospital has shrunk: from 1,984 beds to 1,400 by the 1980s, to 291 today.

Through its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, or CARES, Veterans Affairs intends to drastically downsize at Montrose, merging most of the programs and services there with its sister hospital at Castle Point in Fishkill, Dutchess County.

In his 2004 CARES decision, then-VA Secretary Anthony Principi wrote that such large, mostly vacant facilities required the federal agency to spend money appropriated for veterans on maintenance of buildings and grounds.

"VA can no longer afford to misuse scarce resources in this manner," Principi wrote.

Carrying out that decision, a federal panel in September endorsed moving Montrose's nursing home beds and inpatient psychiatric services to Castle Point, and building new facilities at Montrose for residential care and outpatient clinics.

Veterans groups and elected officials at all levels have protested any cuts in services at Montrose.

Dan Griffin, executive director of the Westchester County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, expects all 50 buildings at Montrose to eventually be leveled, replaced with high-end housing beyond most veterans' reach.

But what about all the soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, Griffin asks, many physically or emotionally scarred by the ravages of modern war?

"That's another reason to say, 'Wait a minute,' with the CARES commission, hold on shutting down these veterans hospitals," he said. "We've got a lot of veterans coming back and a lot of wounded who are going to need the VA."

Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Winter said the CARES process is on hold until the current VA secretary, James Nicholson, announces a final decision.

What's more, Montrose is one of 23 VA sites nationally that are developing supported-employment programs that put veterans directly to work without fear of losing benefits.

Employers include gas stations, building contractors and retail stores. Since September, 11 of the 28 veterans in the Montrose program have graduated.

"Employment is not the result of the therapy. Employment is part of the therapy," said Marek Bienkowski, supervisor of Veterans Industries at Montrose.

Whether such programs or even basic outpatient care will continue at Montrose is unclear.

That worries Anthony Grasso of Yorktown, an Army veteran who goes for checkups there every few months as he recovers from heart bypass surgery. At 79, the prospect of traveling to Castle Point or the Bronx is daunting.

"George Washington said the world will know you by the way you take care of your veterans," Grasso said. "I'm born and raised in Westchester County. I think these services should stay in Westchester County."

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Yet again, government's way of thanking it's Veterans by making it that much harder for them to seek the care they need. Money should never be a concern when it comes to caring and providing for those who serve to protect us day in and day out, nationally and abroad. Just as bad as Medicare not covering VA visits, even though our veterans pay into Medicare. Simplicity and directness have never been the Fed's strong point.

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Not to mention some of the sub-par care many veterans get from the VA system, a system which some due to financial reasons are their only means of healthcare. It wasn't until a few years ago that board certification was required of VA doctors. That was totally unimaginable by me when I found that out being a veteran myself, that if you failed your boards, the VA was your option of being a doctor.

The Montrose facility is a well placed hub between Castle Point and the Bronx VA Hospital. It would be a shame for those whom are treated there, reside there and the employees to lose that facility. As a former employee it was dishearting to see the facility shrink as the months went on.

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