Veterans protest possible downsizing of Montrose VA hospital
MONTROSE – About 100 veterans, many in uniform, gathered on a grassy triangle outside the gate to the Montrose Veterans Administration hospital in Westchester County, for a ‘Save Our VA Rally’ Wednesday afternoon.
The concern is that the Veterans Administration is intentionally not making use of unused space at Montrose, with a possible future intent of selling the land to developers. Previous discussions saw the VA consider selling portions of the Montrose property to be redeveloped for housing.
Willy Nazario, chairman of the Cortlandt Hudson Valley Veterans Committee said it’s a subtle and slow process of not using existing facilities, including a relatively new full-sized gym. He said instead, there would be ample space for the VA to expand and repurpose the 72-acre campus for treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, with a possible focus on how PTSD impacts women.
“PTSD is something that does not rear its ugly head when boots are on the ground on American soil; I cannot overstate that”, Nazario said. “Sometimes it takes many, many years before a veteran comes to the realization that there’s something wrong and he needs help. That’s what this place is about.”
Read more at http://empirestatenews.net/News2013/20131024-3.htm
