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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

$26.8 Million to Construct Parking Garage at Veterans Hospital in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico—The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $26.8 million contract to design and construct a parking garage at the Veterans’ Hospital in San Juan, as well as a pedestrian bridge linking the new garage and the Hospital, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi announced today.

The garage will have seven floors and contain about 1,500 parking spaces. Construction is expected to be completed within a year and four months.

“In nearly every meeting I’ve held with Puerto Rico veterans, and during veterans’ forums that my office has organized, I have heard about the lack of parking at the Hospital. These veterans have advised me that they often need to arrive at the Hospital hours before their appointment in order to find adequate parking. This is unacceptable. Thus, in my conversations with senior officials from the Veterans Administration, I have consistently urged them to address this issue, and I am now pleased to announce that the lack of sufficient parking will soon no longer be a problem for our veterans,” Pierluisi said.

The Veterans Hospital in San Juan is one of the most heavily-utilized hospitals in the VA system. Annually, the hospital has over 10,000 inpatient admissions and about 500,000 outpatient visits.

The construction of this parking garage and pedestrian bridge is part of a nearly $300 million multi-phase renovation and expansion of the VA Hospital, which began in 2009 and is slated to be completed around 2015.

The exact amount appropriated by the federal government to improve the VA Hospital in the last three fiscal years is $277 million—$42 million in Fiscal Year 2010, $134.28 million in Fiscal Year 2011, and $100.72 million in Fiscal Year 2012.

“This was a team effort, and much credit is due to Governor Luis Fortuño, who advocated for additional funding for our VA Hospital when he was Resident Commissioner from 2005 to 2008. Likewise, I want to congratulate the veterans service organizations on the Island, who placed unyielding pressure on the VA not to overlook Puerto Rico in its funding decisions,” the Resident Commissioner said.

Since Pierluisi was elected to Congress, VA health facilities in Puerto Rico have received more federal funding than ever before in the Island’s history. Besides funding to improve the VA hospital, tens of millions of dollars have been appropriated to build and open new VA outpatient clinics in Ceiba, Utuado, Comerío, and Vieques to serve veterans in these and neighboring municipalities.

In the coming years, a new $6.3 million, 86,000 square foot community-based outpatient clinic will be opened in Mayagüez, a new $1.5 million rural clinic will be opened in Guanica, and a new $1.5 million rural clinic will be opened in Orocovis.

In addition, Pierluisi secured $130,000 to enable the State Veteran’s Home in Juana Díaz—“La Casa del Veterano”—to purchase two handicapped-accessible vehicles to transport veterans to and from doctors’ appointments, family visits, and other excursions.

Moreover, with Pierluisi’s strong support, Congress will also allocate nearly $200 million over 20 years—including over $15 million in Fiscal Year 2013—to build and operate a 114,300 square foot Multi-Specialty Health Care Center (HCC) in Ponce. This HCC, the VA’s second-largest category of facility behind a full hospital, will replace the existing outpatient clinic in 2016. The new HCC will be more than double the size of the current facility, will provide state-of-the-art services that go well beyond those that are presently offered, and will reduce the need for veterans in the southern and western part of the Island to travel to the Hospital in San Juan for many types of care.

“Since 2009, I have worked to obtain a state to obtain a state-of-the-art facility in Ponce so that veterans in the western and southern regions do not have to travel to San Juan to receive the care they deserve. My commitment to Puerto Rico’s veterans is unyielding. Because they have sacrificed for our country no less than their counterparts living in the states, they have earned the right to enjoy the same benefits once they leave the service,” said Pierluisi.

The new facility in Ponce will include 915 parking spaces and provide expanded, state-of-the art outpatient services. Specifically, all current services will continue to be provided: Primary Care; Mental Health Clinic; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Surgery; Laboratory; Pharmacy; Radiology; Audiology; Eye Clinic; Prosthetics; Sterile Processing and Distribution; and Acquisition and Material Management Service.

The replacement clinic will also enhance and expand the following programs: Women’s Care, Audiology and Speech Pathology, and Home Care.

Finally, the replacement clinic will also add several new programs that are not currently available: chemotherapy (to treat cancer patients), gastroenterology, a day hospital (a special facility that enables the patient to come to the hospital for treatment during the day and return at night), and an Imaging Center, which will include an MRI center.