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Animals Or Vets: V.A. Goes To The Dogs

By VVAW

The veteran and community leaders of Queens County in New York City are presently fighting to get a veteran's hospital. They are proposing that the VA take over the St. Albans Naval Hospital, a 650 bed facility on a 17 acre site.

The veterans of Queens County (340,000) have been asking for VA hospital for over 25 years. Now that the defense Department is phasing out St. Albans they feel that it would not take much money to convert this facility.

The community surrounding this hospital has joined the veterans in this fight and together they have been holding demonstrations every Saturday morning for over two mos. St. Albans is a black middle-class residential neighborhood. Their rallying cry is "Vets, Yes! Animals, No!" This stems from a proposal by the Agriculture Department to use the site as a quarantine station for animals coming in from overseas. Even that would be better than some of the other plans for the site. If the federal government does not use it, it reverts back to the state, who has already mentioned that it would like to build a prison there.

The vets and the community want and need this hospital. At present, Queens County has only one bed for every 925 residents. The citywide average is one bed for every 637 residents. It has been proposed that along with a VA hospital, the city could build a public hospital on the site. There is plenty of room and in this way, both the veterans and the community would be serviced.

The New York City chapter of VVAW/WSO has joined with other veterans organizations, including the VFW, to pressure the government. Good medical care is a birthright of all Americans and converting St. Albans will be one step in providing that care.

For more information, write to: VVAW/WSO, 135 W. 4th St., New York, New York 10014.