| (San Juan, PR)- Resident Commissioner, Luis G. Fortuño, insisted in a new Veteran’s Hospital during his participation, today, at a ceremony of the Veteran’s Hospital in Rio Piedras where he did the ground breaking for the new six-story tower for the hospital. Fortuño who traveled from Washington, D.C. with the Secretary for Veteran’s Affairs, Hon. Jim Nicholson, to attend the activity, said he was pleased with the work done by the Bush administration to be able to finally start this project and to better the physical structure of the hospital.
Fortuño recalled that even when past Resident Commissioners achieved the allocation of funds for the construction of the new tower, they were never enough to actually start the project. When Secretary Nicholson visited the Island in March, Fortuño accomplished expedite of the auction assignment and awarded supplemental funds from his budget to complete the necessary funds for the project. The new six-story tower will hold 314 beds with the most modern equipment of medical technology at a cost of $84 million dollars.
Fortuño seemed satisfied with the beginning of the project but insisted that he will continue working to achieve a new Veteran’s Hospital. “This new tower promises to better the physical infrastructure of the current hospital but it does not provide a solution to the overhead, parking structural deficits and other deficiencies of the facility” expressed Fortuño. Keeping this in mind, the Resident Commissioner insisted in his obligation to continue working, with the help of the veterans in Puerto Rico, to achieve the construction of a new hospital in Puerto Rico. “Only with a new infrastructure we can assure that our veterans receive the medical treatment they deserve,” said Fortuño.
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