Senate approvesveterans hospital funding

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate authorized $25 million Wednesday to help plan for the new veterans hospital in Las Vegas and approved a new population growth consideration requirement for future medical facilities.

The allocation would address some of the longstanding calls for new veterans medical facilities in Southern Nevada.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was optimistic the bill would move to the House and be approved before Thanksgiving. She has a similar piece of legislation pending in the House that has not been approved yet.

Nevada Sens. Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican, included the allocation in a bill passed by unanimous consent Wednesday. There was no roll call vote.

The bill sets aside $25 million for the planned 81-bed veterans hospital in Clark County. The Department of Veterans Affairs proposed the hospital and a 120-bed nursing home facilities through its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, or CARES, program.

Although a site has not been selected and the plans for the new facilities are not finalized, the Senate's authorization of the funds will make it easier to access the money later as the planning continues.

"This planning and design funding moves us one step closer to opening a brand new veterans hospital in Southern Nevada to respond to growing demand," Reid said in a prepared statement.

Also in the Senate bill, language on page 21 of the 55-page piece of legislation says that when the VA makes other considerations under the CARES program, it should "take into account recent shifts in populations of veterans among those geographic service areas."

Ensign, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, added the language to the bill in October.

The approved bill also puts a priority on an outpatient clinic in Elko.