HAMPTON, Va. — A discussion is underway about potentially closing the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The Department of Veterans Affairs released a new study about the best way to get care to veterans in our area. It noted problems with the current Hampton VA center: the building is aging, it's located in an area where flooding is a problem, and traffic from the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel makes the location harder to access.
The report recommends a new VA Center in Newport News and a new center in Norfolk.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) has pushed for improvements at the VA. He said a commission will look at the ideas over the next year and figure out how to move forward.
"I look forward to engaging with veterans and communities around Virginia to make sure that these recommendations [from the VA] would live up to their stated aim of effectively meeting the future health care demands of our growing veteran population here in the Commonwealth," Warner said in a statement.