Veterans Will No Longer Have to Travel Far Distances for Deserved Medical Attention

PATERSON - U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J., 8th) announced today the opening of the new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Paterson.  The community based facility will be the first of its kind in Passaic County to serve the more than 30,000 veterans that reside in the area.

Specifically, the clinic will be a part of the U.S. VA New Jersey Health Care System.  Pascrell lobbied hard for the clinic, arguing that too often, VA hospitals and clinics such as in Hackensack and East Orange are overcrowded and unable to handle the volume of veterans needing care.  In the first year alone, the Paterson Clinic is expected to welcome approximately 5,000 veterans for treatment.

"Today is a historic day for the thousands of New Jersey veterans who depend on the VA health system for their care," stated Pascrell, a veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserve.  "In salute to all that veterans have done, we have built on these grounds a small monument to your brave dedication to the health and welfare of our great nation."

The Paterson CBOC, the 10th under VANJHCS in the state, offers primary care, social work, dietary, and mental health services to eligible veterans.  The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  An interdisciplinary health care team of ten employees will provide primary medical and mental health care to eligible veterans.

Primary care services include physical examinations, preventive health screening, lab and health education for acute and chronic medical conditions.  Clinic staff will be responsible for coordinating access to other components of health care; i.e., diagnostic, specialty, inpatient, long-term care, and rehabilitation services.

"Passaic County's veterans should no longer have to compete with fellow heroes to receive the medical attention they need and deserve. We have no higher duty than to provide the very best health care possible to the men and women who served our nation," added Pascrell.

The first major victory in securing the clinic was the inclusion of language Pascrell requested calling for the establishment of the clinic in the Fiscal Year 2002 VA-HUD Appropriations Bill.  Pascrell stressed to the Appropriations Committee the ever-increasing need for additional health care facilities in North Jersey.

Despite a VA moratorium on all new community outpatient clinics, Pascrell was able to convince VA Secretary Anthony Principi to promise, and deliver a clinic for Passaic County.  The new clinic is one of only five throughout the nation approved by the Committee, and the only one in New Jersey.  The other areas throughout the country slated to receive new outpatient clinics are Toledo, Ohio; Tammany Parish, Louisiana; Montrose, Pennsylvania; and Storm Lake, Iowa.

 "I applaud the VA's efforts to extend comprehensive medical care to New Jersey's veterans.  Too often, hospitals and clinics are overcrowded and unable to handle the volume of veterans who need medical care."

Pascrell's Veterans Advisory Committee, a group of veterans based in his congressional district and throughout the State, has been instrumental in supporting the effort to establish a new health clinic. The panel works with Pascrell on a regular basis to address  the day to day needs of veterans in New Jersey.

The Congressman has been a vigorous advocate for veterans since being sworn into Congress in January of 1997. He has held several registration drives in the 8th Congressional District whose local veterans have registered with the VA.  Pascrell has also authored the Veterans Right to Know Act, a bill from which crucial language was incorporated and signed into law by the President as part of the "Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act" (Public Law 107-103) on December, 27, 2001.

"There is a great deal we can and should do for those who gave so much, and at the top of the list is providing accessible medical attention."

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