Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are pushing back against an apparent Trump administration plan to close a community based clinic for United States military veterans in Stamford, according to a Thursday report from CT Insider.
Although the Republican administration has not yet publicized any plans to shutter the Stamford VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic, Veterans Council Commander Stephen Fischer told the newspaper that veterans have reported growing uncertainty about the facility’s continued operation.
“Some of the veterans who have been calling in the last week or so have been told that they can’t schedule appointments past September at the Stanford facility,” Fischer said, according to CT Insider. “Some of the staff are also concerned. They confidentially told some people that they’ve been told to look for positions in other locations.”
The reports from former servicemembers prompted U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy along with U.S. Rep. Jim Himes to write a letter to a VA healthcare official, voicing “strong objection to any consideration of closing or diminishing services provided to veterans in Fairfield County,” the newspaper reported.
Without the Stamford clinic, Fairfield County veterans would be forced to travel as far as West Haven or the Bronx to receive care, according to CT Insider.
Sen. Paul Honig, a Harwinton Democrat who co-chairs the state legislature’s Veterans’ and Military Affairs Committee, issued a statement on Monday, urging the Republican administration to uphold its commitment to ensuring that veterans can receive care in the communities where they live.
“Veterans of conflicts like World War II, Korea, and Vietnam are now at an age where consistent access to care is critical,” Honig said. “Now is not the time for the federal government to walk away from its responsibility by forcing aging veterans to travel long distances for the medical support they’ve earned.”
