FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                    CONTACT:  BARBARA RILEY

5/30/08                                                            202-224-2841

                                                                        LIZ CHAMBERLAIN

                                                                        603-430-9560

SUNUNU PUSHES VA TO ADDRESS LACK OF RADIATION SERVICES AT MANCHESTER VA MEDICAL CENTER

Letter urges Secretary Peake to consider the long-term role of VAMC in caring for

New Hampshire’s disabled veterans

WASHINGTON, DC – Continuing his efforts to expand in-state health care for New Hampshire’s veterans, United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) today (5/30) asked U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary James B. Peake to study the need for improved access to radiation treatment at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC).  He also urged the Secretary to ensure that the VA has a contingency plan in place to meet the needs of the State’s returning servicemembers who require long-term care.

Following up on earlier letters to Secretary Peake and Dr. Marc Levenson, Director of the VAMC, as well as numerous conversations with New Hampshire veterans, Sununu requested that the VA examine ways to improve access to radiation treatment, which area veterans consider the most needed service not offered in the State.  In his most recent letter to Secretary Peake, Sununu urged the VA to provide these needed services at the VAMC or offer financial assistance to patients choosing to obtain treatment at private facilities closer to home.

In addition, recognizing that vast improvements in battlefield medicine will place an increased burden on the VA in the future, Sununu requested information on the VA’s contingency plans for meeting the needs of New Hampshire’s disabled veterans, whose numbers are expected to rise. 

The text of Sununu’s May 30 letter to Secretary Peake reads:

Thank you for your recent reply concerning the transformation of the (VAMC) from an acute inpatient care unit to an intermediate care unit.  I appreciate your quick response and join New Hampshire veterans in thanking you for your commitment to their wellbeing.

In your letter you stated the VA’s willingness to consider expanding services at the Manchester VAMC as needs are identified.  When speaking with New Hampshire’s veterans, I frequently hear that one of the most important services our state lacks is radiation treatment.  In the same way the absence of a full-service hospital affects other patients, veterans in need of cancer treatments are regularly forced to travel out-of-state to receive this critical care.  While no veteran should have to travel long distances to receive services, asking cancer stricken veterans to make successive trips to receive often lengthy and exhaustive treatments is especially burdensome.  As such, when faced with the choice of extensive traveling or using other sources of insurance to acquire services locally, many of my state’s veterans choose the latter. 

The VA has a responsibility to properly care for veterans who have sacrificed so much and deserve to enjoy their years in good health.  As such, I respectfully request that the VA conduct a study to investigate opportunities to improve the access to radiation treatment in New Hampshire, be it through providing these services at the Manchester VAMC or by providing financial assistance to those who choose to seek services at private facilities close to home.

On another topic, in your letter you cited patient statistics from 1994 through 1999 to justify reducing services at the VAMC.  While I can appreciate that the reduction in demand led to the reduction in services, I am hopeful that the VA has contingency plans in place to ensure that any broad increase in need among New Hampshire veterans would be met with a corresponding increase in available services.

Advances in equipment and training on the battlefield have saved the lives of countless servicemembers who may have died from injuries that would have been considered fatal in earlier conflicts.  However, as a result of this heroic and life saving work, the number of disabled veterans here at home has increased significantly in recent years.  Although the total number of veterans is expected to decline over the coming years, the number of disabled veterans who will require a lifetime of care will continue to rise.  As such, I am interested in the VA’s longer-term plans with regard to the VAMC, which is uniquely positioned to assist in ensuring that the newest generation of veterans residing in New Hampshire receives the excellent care they have earned. 

Thank you again for your work on behalf of our nation’s veterans, and I look forward to your response to these concerns.