Nevada has one of the fastest growing veteran communities, and as more veterans continue to reside in Boulder City and throughout the Silver State, we will need to continually strengthen the services government offers to them- in particular, health care. Having fought to protect our nation, each Nevada veteran has made personal sacrifices for the country. While they are bound by a shared experience of serving their nation, they each have different needs. To meet these needs, we had to create a comprehensive way to administer the best quality care. The newly-opened VA hospital in North Las Vegas will help to directly address the different health care needs of veterans in Southern Nevada.

Starting in 2005, I worked with a variety of groups to support the construction of this new, state-of-the-art medical facility. I secured $600 million for the new facility which will accommodate 655,000 ambulatory care visits per year, and it will also have 90 inpatient beds, along with a 120 bed community living center and nursing home facility. I had the honor of attending the hospital’s dedication ceremony in early August with other Nevada veterans and I was pleased to join Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki for the event. After seeing the facility for the first time, these men and women knew what I knew- the new facility and it’s medical staff would make sure they were properly looked after and all of their needs would be met with the best possible medical support.

The hospital is also a job creator. Beyond the many construction jobs the endeavor created to raise the 1 million square foot campus, approximately 2,000 medical professionals and staff will operate the facility. And we have also planned new and innovated ways to deliver care to veterans who might be injured or lack access to affordable transportation. I supported efforts of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada to provide an enhanced transportation network for veterans in the Las Vegas Valley.

Making sure Nevada veterans are taken care of is an obligation that I take very seriously. The many individuals who collaborated to make the hospital a reality helped to deliver on that promise.

Contact Harry Reid at http://reid.senate.gov/