The full Senate approved a measure, sponsored by Senator Jeff Van Drew, to urge the United States Congress and the President to enact legislation establishing a regional veterans’ medical facility in southern New Jersey.
Currently, there is no federal Department of Veterans Affairs inpatient veterans’ medical center in the southern part of the state. While the VA has established small clinics in Ventnor, Cape May and Vineland, they are only equipped to perform certain types of outpatient medical services, and are often overwhelmed by the large number of veterans seeking care. As a result, veterans are forced to travel long distances to northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Delaware to get care.
Passage of the Senate Resolution (SR-28) comes just weeks after the Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee held an off-site meeting at the Somers Point VFW Post 2189 in Atlantic County, where dozens of veterans told stories of having to travel for more than an hour, sometimes taking day-long trips, to get to veterans’ hospitals for care.
