Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a series of recommendations that resulted from a market assessment required by the VA MISSION Act of 2018, which was intended to identify gaps in VA coverage and to inform future VA development.

Instead, these recommendations will strand veterans in Northeastern Montana, where there are virtually no Community Care facilities in the VA network, and the next VA clinic can be up to 295 miles away. Furthermore, the closure of the Miles City VA Community Living Center will displace several veteran residents without a clear plan for their relocation. Many private facilities have refused to work with the VA on account of onerous contract requirements that the VA insists on.

“What the VA intends to do to Montana veterans is unconscionable. This administration is clueless about the problems that face veterans living in a frontier state like Montana, otherwise they wouldn’t be recommending the closures of the only clinics within hundreds of miles of some Northeastern Montana communities,” said Representative Rosendale. “We simply cannot accept these closures without a clear plan to replace the care that our veterans have earned and been promised. The fact that the VA is including this debacle in its slate of recommendations show that they are unserious about real reform.”

Representative Rosendale will continue to fight to hold the VA accountable to its responsibility to veterans. On Monday, he sent a letter to the Secretary of the VA asking how the VA plans to address the issues unique to a frontier state like Montana and how it plans to replace the care that veterans have earned with their service.

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