HARLINGEN, RGV – A statewide veterans group is calling on Hispanic legislators in Texas to throw their weight behind efforts to secure a VA Hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
Placido Salazar, veterans’ legislation liaison for the Dr. Hector P. Garcia American GI Forum Organization of Texas has sent an open letter to Hispanic lawmakers on the eve of the Latino Summit, which takes place today at the state Capitol in Austin.
It is the second time a Latino Summit has been organized by the Senate Hispanic Caucus and the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus. The first was in late 2013.
In his letter, Salazar states: “We have previously been told that ‘the State does not build VA hospitals’ and I believe we are intelligent enough to understand this. However, I believe that either the State of Texas or the federal government can lease a boarded-up mall in the Rio Grande Valley and remodel it to serve as a VA hospital.”
Salazar goes on to dispute some of the statistics cited in opposition to a VA Hospital in the Valley.
“We were told that the Valley did not have a high enough Veteran population, but VA’s own figures proved their own comments wrong. We were told that VA hospitals are normally only built where a medical school exists. Well, that should no longer be a point of excuse, with the new UTRGV School of Medicine, so we are placing this decades-old issue on the lap of Texas legislators to apply pressure on federal legislators to show our RGV Veterans that somebody cares about their lack of VA healthcare,” Salazar wrote.
Salazar believes the creation of a VA Hospital in the Valley would relieve pressure at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital in San Antonio.
“Reportedly, there are more than 1,000,000 veterans registered for care at Audie Murphy VA Hospital in San Antonio, so building a full-service 24/7 VA hospital in the McAllen/Edinburg area for the more than 130,000 RGV Veterans, would greatly reduce the overload at Audie, enabling them to provide more-timely, less waiting time appointments for all veterans through Central and South Texas, from San Marcos to Del Rio, Sonora and Johnson City.”
Salazar said he was one of two members of the Dr. Hector P. Garcia American GI Forum Organization of Texas that participated in a roundtable discussion on veterans’ issues with VA Secretary Robert McDonald at the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen on September 14. The other was Commander Jose Maria Vasquez. The event was hosted by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Salazar said little was accomplished.
“It turned out to be a huge disappointment. Only one of the hand-picked eight or ten veterans who were allowed to speak mentioned establishing a VA Hospital in the Valley. Most of the speakers wasted time praising legislators present ‘for all that you have done.’ Like, what? Introducing bills which never got out of subcommittee?”
The chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus, Sen. José Rodríguez of El Paso has helped organize the Latino Summit. He said it will bring legislators, community leaders and policy experts together to discuss issues important to Hispanic communities.
Rodríguez pointed out that after the first statewide summit took place in late 2013, a series of six regional gatherings took place 2014. He said 400 attendees, including academics, business leaders, advocates, students, and grassroots leaders, helped develop a Latina/o policy agenda in the areas of health care, education, civic engagement, immigration, and economic opportunity. The six regional gatherings took place in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley.
“We worked very hard to determine the priorities of the Latina/o community. What we have found is that the policies of the state are not reflecting the concerns of everyday Latino and minority families,” said Rodríguez. “It’s time to change that.”
Rodríguez added that planning for the next legislative session already has begun, and this year’s summit will be the focal point for discussion.
The Latino Summit takes place in the Legislative Conference Center (Room E2.002) and Auditorium Room (Room E1.004) of the State Capitol from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 10.
The panel topics are: 1) An overview of the 84th legislative session, moderated by state Rep. Ina Minjarez of San Antonio; 2) Communicating a message and organizing for session, moderated by state Rep. Celia Israel of Austin; 3) Pending litigation on issues impacting the Latino community, moderated by state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio; 4) Expanding allies and opportunities for collaboration, moderated by state Rep. César Blanco of El Paso; and 5) Expanding the agenda, moderated by former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin. This panel includes Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, of UT-Austin, who will discuss veterans’ issues.
State Sen. Sylvia García of Houston will give the opening remarks and Sen. Rodríguez will give the closing remarks.
Editor’s Note: The main image accompanying this story shows the Veterans’ Roundtable event hosted by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn at the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen on Sept. 14. It featured U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald.
