WASHINGTON, (January12, 2010)—Today, Congressman Ben Chandler stated his disappointment in the Veterans Administration’s delays in funding construction at the Leestown Road Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 

Congressman Chandler has been advocating for funding construction at the Leestown Road Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center for some time, including in three letters addressed to Secretary Eric Shinseki of the Department of Veterans Affairs over the last several months. 

Having just received Secretary Shinseki’s response, Congressman Chandler took this issue a step further today, by writing the administration and strongly requesting  the Lexington facility be made a priority in the 2011 budget. In addition, Chandler called for a personal meeting in the next few weeks with top VA officials to discuss the matter in greater detail.   

“This is unacceptable,” Congressman Chandler said. “For months I have repeatedly contacted Secretary Shinseki about the Leestown Road center and received no reply until just now.  It is critical we put this funding on the fast track.  Our veterans deserve the best facilities without having to drive for hours or across state lines for treatment, and they need it now.” 

In 2006, the Leestown Road Division was selected for the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) program which calls for all new state-of-the-art facilities.  The Lexington VA Medical Center’s 2008 Annual Report states that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs signed the decision to build “all new facilities for Leestown functions,” and that the plan is awaiting funding.  Facility officials, the veterans community, and Congressman Chandler’s staff have met many times to discuss the facility and this funding.   

Congressman Chandler has a history of advocacy for the Leestown Road VA Medical Center.  In 2004, when the facility was threatened with closure, Chandler fought to keep it open by joining the community and veterans throughout Central Kentucky to oppose the closure.

In addition to the veterans it serves, the Lexington VA Medical Center is immensely important to its 850 full-time employees and the 1,100 students trained there every year.   

 “The 92,000 veterans in Central Kentucky have fought for our country in the jungles of Vietnam, on the shores of Normandy, and in the deserts of Iraq… now we need to fight for them here in Lexington,” Chandler said.