It’s knock-on-wood time for the Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital.

There appears to be a growing momentum of good news pertaining to the fate of the Waco hospital targeted suddenly for closure in the summer of 2003.

The latest good news came with the announcement that additional funding to study post-traumatic stress disorder at the Waco VA Hospital and at Fort Hood has been approved by a House congressional subcommittee.

Last year, U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, was able to add $3 million to an appropriations bill to fund a PTSD study at the Waco hospital and Fort Hood.
That $3 million managed to survive throughout the appropriations process in both the House and Senate.

This year Edwards has successfully added $3.5 million to continue the same PTSD study at Fort Hood and the Waco hospital, which has specialized in providing mental health care for veterans since 1932.

One of the reasons for the success of getting PTSD study funds the Waco hospital is because U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, succeeded in getting congressional approval to name the Waco VA Hospital a “center of excellence” for mental health care. That help from Hutchison opened the door for additional funding for VA hospitals named as centers of excellence.

Fortunately, the good news reports appear to be growing one upon the other.

They have not fallen from the sky unbidden, however. These welcome reports have been the result of a lot of hard work and commitment by veterans, business leaders, government officials and many others in Greater Waco who support the 74-year-old hospital.

Despite all the good news, the fate of the Waco hospital remains unknown. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson) will make the final decision.
Still, this latest report helps. “This is one more arrow in our quiver to save the Waco VA,” Edwards said.

He’s right, knock on wood.