Following Push from Senator Hassan, VA Secretary Commits to Public Release This Summer of Plans for Manchester VA Medical Center Infrastructure Upgrades

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan pressed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough today about the need to quickly finalize and make public a comprehensive plan to improve the infrastructure at the Manchester VA Medical Center. The Senator’s questioning, which came during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, follows a meeting that she had with Secretary McDonough earlier this week regarding the need to improve the infrastructure at the Manchester VA.

To watch Senator Hassan’s questioning, click here.

“As you know, the Manchester VA Medical Center is 73 years old and facility maintenance failures have led to the cancellation of many veterans’ appointments in just the past few years,” Senator Hassan said. “When will you be able to make public a comprehensive plan on projects for the Manchester VA so that veterans will know what to expect?”

Secretary McDonough committed to having a public plan for the improvements by this summer.

Senator Hassan went on to discuss the pipe burst at the Manchester VA Medical Center last year that led to delays in care for New Hampshire veterans, and pushed the VA Secretary to discuss how he plans to ensure that the Manchester VA does not have these types of problems in the future. The Senator also questioned the Secretary about details regarding the ongoing project to construct a women’s health clinic on the Manchester VA campus.

Senator Hassan concluded by saying, “It’s really important for people to understand not only the timeline, but with the overall renovations, what you all are trying to do is make sure that you are repairing this facility to a point where we won’t see these kinds of ongoing failures, which have really been incredibly disruptive to veterans in New Hampshire.”

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