LYNN – In an attempt to get their elected officials’ attention on the possible shutdown of the VA Clinic on Boston Street, the Massachusetts Senior Action Council (MSAC), with the support of the Veterans Services, held a protest Friday.
“We are asking for a meeting with our congressional representative, and as of now no date has been set,” said Director of Organizing at MSAC Pam Edwards. “We know that the clinic’s fate is in our federal elected hands.”
The recommendation of the Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System was announced earlier this year and it was then submitted to the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission. If approved, two clinics located in Lynn and Gloucester will shut down to make way for a larger multi-clinic in Salem.
Edwards said there were around 2,000 residents who used the clinic, and they were primarily low-income individuals and people of color, “who have much harder time traveling for health care.”
John Lazar, Nahant Veteran Services Officer, said he had “a responsibility over 300 veterans living in Nahant, who are coming to this hospital.” Lazar added that “this place has been a blessing for many of the veterans not only from Nahant, but from all the surrounding communities.”
“A lot of my guys love it in Bedford VA, but it’s hard to get there, because of the traffic,” said Lazar.
As Director of Lynn/Swampscott Veterans Services Mike Sweeney put it, another point of concern for the community became the fact that the VA, “has never properly communicated to the veterans in the community” that the place was to be closed.
“They haven’t taken the needs of the veterans in this community sufficiently into account,” he said.
Lynn was a minority-majority city and a lot of its veterans needed a VA clinic, said Sweeney. Dan Cote, Purple Heart Afghanistan Veteran and member of the Lynn Veterans Council, said that closing the clinic will become a “hindrance to the veterans who don’t have vehicles, so transportation will be a problem.”
“We have to be the voice of those who have given so much, and are no longer with us, and that’s why we are here,” said Joan B. Noble, past national president of the Polish Legion of American Veterans Ladies Auxiliary.
Noble also said that she and her husband, Guy C. Noble already had to stand up for the VA Clinic when there was a plan to close it around 15 years ago. She said that the least they could do for the veterans “who gave so much for this country” was to make sure that “the government stands by their promise to continue to provide the best of care without adding hardships to their life.”
“Moving the clinic will obviously present a great hardship for many,” said Noble.
Ruth Chaiton, 90, whose late husband was a veteran, said she regretted that “the city of Lynn has taken over anything that is medical.” She also said that she could see the signs pointing to the places where people could buy marijuana, but there were no signs leading to the hospitals.
Ryan Lilly, Network Director at VA New England Health Care System said in his statement regarding proposed relocation of the Lynn Clinic to Salem that the AIR process was a congressionally mandated process which meant that “as part of the development of these recommendations, a series of public listening sessions open to all veterans were held throughout 2020 and 2021.” He issued a further reminder that VA recommendations were “only recommendations.”
“The AIR Commission must still consider these recommendations, and then there is both a presidential and congressional approval process before any recommendation could become final,” said Lilly.
The AIR Commission will be setting up site visits and other meetings to hear from veterans and their families about these proposed changes, reads the statement encouraging the residents to learn more about the AIR process and the recommendations at https://www.va.gov/aircommissionreport/.
State Rep. Peter Capano, who came to the demonstration, said that he came “to support the veterans of Lynn and have the clinic stay.” According to him, it was an issue of equity, and equity was on the mission statement of the AIR Commission that recommended closing the facility.
“There are more veterans in Lynn in need than in Salem and surrounding areas,” said Capano.
Communications Director at State Sen. Brendan Crighton’s office, Sean Reid, said “we are coming together like we always try to do in Lynn to make sure that all the voices are heard in the community.”
The protest is planned to take place every week at 1 p.m. at 225 Boston St., with the meeting point at the corner of Franklin Street and Boston Street. Next week the event is planned to take place Friday.
“The veterans really need all the help that they can get, so please help us, if you can,” said Peter LaPierre, Vietnam War veteran.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
