Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A $1 billion proposal for a new VA Hospital in Buffalo was announced this past Friday, as plans appear to be in place to eventually replace the 70-year-old VA Hospital currently on Bailey Avenue.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs did an assessment of the current facility in Buffalo and determined there's $300 million in needed improvements to address the modern healthcare system.
While plans are very preliminary at this point, local members of the governing body are pleased to know the current situation with the VA Hospital in Buffalo is being addressed.
"I'm thrilled to hear the VA talking about building a new VA Hospital here," said Buffalo Common Council President, Darius Pridgen. "I am the only veteran currently on the Council, and so the VA is near-and-dear to my heart."
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"Happy to hear that the VA is looking at a new VA Hospital in the City of Buffalo," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. "Our veterans deserve the absolute best medical treatment that they can get."
It is quite clear that with the current VA Hospital, the building is outdated and does not have the proper facilities and technologies to help care for the veterans who have served for the country. That is why a new facility is being looked into, with the most favorable spot being at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
However, with any new build of a facility such as a VA Hospital, there will be some issues to consider when it comes to logistics.
"Parking issues would have to be addressed, potential noise issues would have to be addressed, traffic issues. There are a lot of logistics," Mayor Brown said.
"I'm sure all of those things could be overcome, but it is certainly important to listen to all of the needs and the concerns of the surrounding community to make sure that it was a win-win situation. Certainly a win for our veterans, but a win for the surrounding community as well."
Councilman Pridgen is understanding why the early plans for a VA Hospital would be to build the facility on the medical campus. However, like Mayor Brown, his biggest concern has to do with the parking situation in and around the campus.
"Right now, there is a limited amount of parking," Pridgen pointed out. "We now have the first ever parking permit for residents, but it is not a permanent fix, because it is under a pilot project through state government. It has to be authorized by the state. So that's not even permanent, and if for any reason when the pilot expires [and] our state delegation does not renew it, then we could be at a place where you have people parking, again, in the neighborhoods and the residents not being able to park there."
"I think that that's very important to have that discussion from the very beginning so that the people who will visit that veterans facility and the people who work there will have adequate parking."
As the process continues to play out, there will be other considerations that local officials like Councilman Pridgen will have to look into. Issues like space and the safety of an area are among a laundry list of things to address. But it's the parking that Pridgen continues to point back to, especially with the feedback he's already been hearing from people of the community.
"I have been contacted by people who were afraid about property values, but what I have not heard is from owners who are afraid of property values going up. [It's] mostly from renters, who are afraid that their rents could go up, because the values of the property," Councilman Pridgen explained. "That's something we have to work through as a city, and as a state, to be very honest, and working with landlords and trying to ensure that as things continue to grow on the medical campus, that it doesn't move out people who have stayed in the Fruit Belt area, when it was not a place where people want it to be - some people want it to be."
Given the current status of the VA Hospital right now on Bailey Avenue, there may be some sort of urgency to get the legs churning on this effort and start building a new facility as soon as possible. However, with everything that still needs to be figured out with the logistics of a build, it may be more beneficial to get everything planned out to perfection before the construction process begins.
"The VA is looking at what the needs are, studying what the needs are. It certainly could be done over time and all of the concerns, all of the issues could be perfected over time," Mayor Brown said. "I believe it's something that could be a real major win for the veterans of our city and our region, but also something that could be beneficial to the residents. But parking concerns and many other concerns need to be taken into consideration and addressed for it to have the benefits for all parties concerned."
As for Councilman Pridgen, he's hoping a new VA Hospital for the community comes sooner rather than later, because he sees it as an immediate need for the veterans of Western New York.
"We're not talking about building widgets here, we're talking about people's lives," Councilman Pridgen said. "Some of the people who deserve the most to be cared for, because they have put their life on the line whether it was in active combat or serving in any type of military or their family service, we owe them more than what we have right now in a VA Hospital."