Canandaigua AFGE Local 3306
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 'What are they going to do with us?'By ANNE JOHNSTON/Messenger Post Staff August 06, 2003CANANDAIGUA -- When Bill Kuehl moved into Gladwin Hall at the VA Medical Center almost seven years ago, it was with the understanding that the nursing home would be the place where he would spend the rest of his days. Now, the 79-year-old World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient doesn't know where he'll go. "What are they going to do with us?" asked the former Rochester resident, who served in the 87th Infantry Division of Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s Third U.S. Army and suffered shrapnel wounds in the European theater. Like the nearly 1,000 other people who either live at or work in the VA, Kuehl learned late last week of the government's plan to close the facility. It's part of a proposed nationwide overhaul, which would close six other VAs and mean major changes at six more in an attempt to shift services and cut costs. Kuehl planned to join many of the others who would be affected by the Canandaigua VA's closing this morning, when several lawmakers met with the local Veterans Advisory Committee in the auditorium of Building 5. "We'll see what kind of lies they've got," he said, with a mischievous glint in his eye. Notices about the meeting are posted in the elevators at the sprawling, 70-year-old facility, where employees and residents went about their daily routines Tuesday but had the threat of closure foremost in their minds. "It's tough," said Donnie Allen, a VA employee for almost three years. "Even the leadership here was totally unaware this was going to happen." Allen, who served 23 years in the Marines, works in program support. He schedules appointments for patients, places orders for doctors, and makes sure all their paperwork goes to the right place. Now, after he gets off work each day, the Phelps man stops at the posts of the veterans' organizations he belongs to, picking up petitions that are filled with signatures protesting the government's plan, and putting out new ones. "We're attacking this thing from all different angles," he said. Allen said he is also fielding calls "left and right" from outpatients he has met. Some of them wonder aloud if they are being punished for something. "It's heart wrenching," he said. "They thought they were going to be taken care of and assumed they would have a place to come, where they could afford to come." Allen gets health care at the VA -- he takes 12 different medications twice a day -- and said it would be difficult to go somewhere else. The 48-year-old father of five also doesn't know where he would work. "The way the job market is right now, I'd do whatever I had to to support my family, like work two or three jobs, but it would be a hardship," he said, noting that he would probably need to be retrained because his military training is in areas like artillery. Richard Treese of Stanley has worked at the VA for almost 40 years. At 58, he is hoping to continue working in dietetics until December 2005 so that his retirement pension will be 80 percent of his gross earnings, but the federal government's plan calls for all 722 VA employees to lose their jobs by that time. "I started here when I was 18 years old, and I've seen a lot of good veterans come and go," he said. "It's a shame to see our country do away with this hospital. I don't think it's right." When he came to the VA in 1964, Treese noted, there were 2,200 inpatients. Now, there are 275 inpatient beds and usually, about 200 of them are filled. Tony Ceravolo is occupying one of those beds. A self-described homeless veteran from Newark, the 46-year-old arrived at the VA July 21, with plans to spend six months in its domiciliary. Bipolar and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Ceravolo said his experiences in the Navy during the Vietnam era have made it hard for him to hold down a job because he has a tendency to lose his temper and get let go. Now, he is working with VA staff on how to control his temper, and he has noticed a difference already. In situations that would normally upset him, he is able to calmly walk away, with a smile on his face, even. "So far, this place has helped me out a lot," he said, after checking out a book in the library. "There are a lot of beautiful people here, and they're doing a lot for us," he added. "This place works. It works." Ceravolo said he thinks the government's plan is "stupid." "We need this place, if not for me, for the veterans that are coming back from the war," he said. "All I can say is, 'Hillary Clinton, come save us!'" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is among the politicians who have expressed strong opposition to the plan unveiled Monday. Adding his voice to the chorus Tuesday was U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton, R-Corning, who was vacationing when the proposal became public. He said it came "frankly, as a bolt out of the blue." "My impression is that the VA has the cart before the horse," the congressman said in an official statement. "You consult with Congress before making an announcement, not afterwards." "Frankly, in looking at the VA center here, there is every reason to believe that it is the right hospital at the right place at the right time," he added. State Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, also contacted U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi to express his concern, noting that closure would "severely jeopardize health care for hundreds of veterans throughout the Finger Lakes region." "At a time when our nation's men and women are fighting in defense of freedom both at home and abroad, it is vital that our brave and honorable veterans continue to have ready access to essential medical services," Nozzolio's letter said. Daniel Adams of Newark, who works in emergency medical services at the VA, said it would be nothing short of a "tragedy" for the community if it were to close. "I hope they keep it open, for the patients' sake," he said. Kuehl, the World War II veteran in Gladwin Hall, seemed somewhat resigned Tuesday to the possibility that he will be uprooted. He said his nephew, who lives in Lyons, was looking into where he might go. But other nursing homes are much more expensive than the VA's, and he's happy with the care he receives there. "It's going to be rough, you know?" he said. "It's like a home to me."
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