WAPPINGER – A Veterans Administration realignment report has recommended the closure of the Castle Point VA Medical Center in Wappinger after moving its services to a new location.
Congressmen Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado, both Hudson Valley Democrats, have written to VA Secretary McDonough demanding that the VA ensure that any veteran who uses Castle Point would maintain equally accessible and high-quality care through a VA facility nearby before any steps are taken to close Castle Point.
Their concerns may be premature since the Asset and Infrastructure Review said the 107-year-old Castle Point would not be closed until a new facility was built in Fishkill about five miles from the current campus.
A one-year committee review will be undertaken now, followed by their recommendations being sent to the president and congress.
VA spokesman Cullen Lyons said nothing is going to happen overnight.
“In my personal opinion as a VA employee and a veteran myself, I think this would be a good thing and I think as a higher-level perspective it makes me feel very confident and really good that the VA is looking to align themselves to be able to support the next generation of veterans,” he said.
Lyons predicted the process may take as much as a decade should the decision be to move forward.
Among the factors to be considered in any decision is that it would take $150 million to upgrade Castle Point and $7.6 million annually for maintenance.
