On the recordSeptember 9, 1999
Regrettably, this historic increase in funding will do nothing to help meet the needs of our veterans in lower New York and northern New Jersey. The implementation of the Veterans Equity Resource Allocation system, known as VERA, some 3 years ago has led to over $120 million being taken away from the operating budget of our area, VISN 3. To date, the VISN director and his staff have worked hard to trim the fat in their budget while assuring our offices they would notify us when further cuts would negatively impact care. VISN 3 has now reached that point. Since 1997, the VA hospitals in my district at Castle Point and Montrose have had their budgets cut by $7.3 million. Since 1995, these hospitals have lost some 549 employees, a decrease of some 25 percent, the equivalent of an entire hospital.
Source
govinfo.gov
