[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was joined today by the Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Daniel Akaka (D-HI) in introducing legislation needed to complete the James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center.  The legislation – which lays down a marker for the 111th Congress – gives legislative authority to the Navy and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly operate the new Federal Health Care Center.  

“I have been working for nearly a decade on this health care center that combines the services of the North Chicago VA Medical Center and the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes in order to better serve Illinois veterans,” noted Durbin. “It is essential that Congress passes this legislation and Senator Akaka and I will continue working together to push this project over the final hurdle.” 

Senator Durbin has played a major role over the last decade in the development of the new Lovell Federal Health Care Center.  After the VA announced plans in 1999 to close the North Chicago VA Medical Center, he brought Illinois House and Senate members together to request an investigation into the possibility of having the Navy and the VA enter into a joint agreement for use of the facility.  Senator Durbin later passed language requiring the Navy to expand the use of the hospital and to work with the VA to finalize site selection for the joint ambulatory care center and construction design. 

When complete the Lovell Federal Health Care Center will be the first health care facility in the nation to be operated jointly between the VA and the Navy saving taxpayers millions of dollars that would otherwise have been needed to rebuild or renovate the Navy’s nearby hospital.  However, without this legislation, the Center will not be able to provide essential services to thousands of military beneficiaries in the region.  Beneficiaries who had previously received care at the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes would either be ineligible for care or would be required to make a co-pay or have a cost-share for certain care, including emergency, hospitalization, outpatient, and behavioral health services.

Durbin’s legislation includes several provisions to ensure that the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center will be able to open as planned in 2010.  The legislation:

• Allows the Navy to transfer civilian employee positions to the VA.  Without this authority, the Center would have to operate under two separate employment regimes, making staffing and caring for patients difficult and confusing.

•  Designates the Center as a “facility of the uniformed services” which prevents retirees and their dependents from having to make co-payments in order to receive care.  Without this designation, Defense Department beneficiaries would not be eligible for the kind of care for which they are eligible at other Defense Department military treatment facilities. 

•  Requires the Navy and the VA to contribute to a joint fund used for property maintenance costs and minor construction projects.  Without this requirement, it would be difficult to coordinate future maintenance and construction efforts between the two agencies.

•  Allows the Navy to transfer certain facilities to the VA.  Without this authority, the Navy would not be able to transfer the ambulatory care center, parking structure, supporting facilities, and related medical personal property and equipment to the VA.