In the Press...
Patch article on VA Clinic Smith brought to Ocean Co.'VA Clinic In Toms River Heralded As Step To Fulfilling Promise To Vets'The groundbreaking for the new clinic is just the start of improving care and access to it for veterans in Ocean County, officials said.TOMS RIVER, NJ — For years, veterans in Ocean County have been telling anyone who would listen that they needed better access to health care. They needed specialists. They needed mental health services. They needed parking. On Monday, all of those requests, and years of urging by state, local and federal officials culminated in the groundbreaking for the VA's new Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Toms River. Veterans groups and officials from around the area celebrated what VA officials called just the beginning of "improving care and access for our veterans." This moment is about our country fulfilling its promises to take care of our veterans," said U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who represents New Jersey's 3rd District and picked up the fight for the new clinic when he was elected in 2018.
"This will be a place of healing," Kim said, "this will be a place where lives are saved." "The new clinic will help us fulfill the promise (President Abraham) Lincoln made" to ensure those who fought for the United States and their families — especially of those who died — were cared for, Smith said. "This is the perfect week for the groundbreaking," Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill said, "because it's Military Appreciation Week." "The majority of our military are citizen soldiers," Hill said. "When they take that oath, they are giving the government a blank check." Proper health care is the country's way of repaying veterans for their willingness to put everything on the line, Hill said. The ability to have increased access to specialists at the Toms River clinic will mean fewer times veterans have to travel to East Orange for care, Hill said. The location of the new clinic, at 1051 Hooper Ave., puts it right next to the new Ocean County Social Services building that is being constructed, along with the county's veterans services office. "This makes it one-stop shopping" for veterans who need assistance, said Phil Zimmerman, head of the Ocean County Veterans Services Bureau. "It's an exciting day." The clinic, which is anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2024, is as-of-yet unnamed. Hill took the opportunity to make the case to Kim and Smith, as well as VA officials, to name the building for Lt. Leonard G. "Bud" Lomell, an Army Ranger and highly decorated veteran who fought at Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Smith and Kim spoke briefly on stage after Hill made his plea, and Kim confirmed they spoke about a bipartisan effort to try to get that naming approved. "We share the same commitment to try to make it happen," Kim said. Smith said he would be introducing a bill to name the clinic for Lomell and that Kim would be the co-sponsor. In addition to veterans — who filled the majority of the seats at the ceremony — there were a number of Ocean County officials at the ceremony, including county commissioners Bobbi Jo Crea, Virginia Haines, Gary Quinn and Joe Vicari; South Toms River Mayor Gregory Handshy, Manchester Mayor Robert Hudak, Point Pleasant Mayor Robert Sabosik, Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz, Plumsted Mayor Robert Bowen, Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen Amato and council and committee members from several towns. The groundbreaking is the culmination of more than eight years of work following changes approved under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. That legislation resulted from extensive reports on serious failings of the VA in treating veterans, from extreme delays in access to care to sorely inadequate facilities. FD Stonewater, the developer, won a contract of nearly $61 million for the construction and a 20-year lease from the Department of Veterans Affairs to operate the facility, which will be nearly twice the size of the James J. Howard VA Outpatient Clinic in Brick. Smith said the 2014 Veterans Access legislation was critical to ensuring the continued service to veterans in Ocean County. "We were afraid they were going to shut the Brick clinic down," he said. The new clinic is expected to encompass 68,000 square feet of space, with state-of-the-art medical equipment and access to specialties from dentistry to mental health and physical therapy, and supporting the health care needs of women who are veterans, officials said. More importantly, it will have 480 parking spaces —one of the biggest complaints about the Howard clinic in recent years. That clinic, which opened in 1991, was anticipated to serve about 5,000 veterans when it was built at the site at Route 70 and Jack Martin Boulevard in Brick. Today, there are more than 35,000 veterans in Ocean County alone, according to U.S. Census data. Like the Howard clinic, the new Toms River facility will serve veterans in Monmouth and Burlington counties. The process of bidding the project started in 2016, and was scrapped once before the VA began seeking bids for a new site in 2018. The 2018 contract process was abruptly canceled May 1, 2019, amid anticipation of the announcement of a new clinic. VA officials have never announced the reasons for the cancellation, and within days a new solicitation was posted, with similar specifications to the 2018 request for bids. The VA decided to restart the site selection process with a pre-solicitation on May 22, 2020. Toms River officials said the town managed to finalize a redeveloper designation with FD Stonewater in less than three weeks for the project. Toms River officials have said after the Hooper-Caudina site was chosen as a possibility, the town and FD Stonewater worked to refine it and added other parcels to the site, including property owned by Toms River Fire Company 2. Plans and artists' renderings of the site were submitted to the VA on Sept. 25, 2020, the township said. FD Stonewater has built a number of facilities for the federal government, including VA clinics in Maryland and one in Maine. https://patch.com/new-jersey/tomsriver/va-clinic-toms-river-heralded-step-fulfilling-promise-vets |