The Nation - News from July 18, 1989

Veterans Affairs Secretary Edward J. Derwinski asked Congress to create a commission to conduct the first review of veterans health care in 25 years and make a “take-it-or-leave-it” recommendation. Derwinski carefully excluded the possibility of hospital closings, talking only of “changing missions” and the like. The commission would be modeled after the one appointed last year that recommended the closing of 86 military installations--meaning its report would have to be considered by the secretary and Congress as a package. If established by Congress, the commission would examine all 172 Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals plus hundreds of clinics and other treatment units and would return a proposal by Jan. 1, 1991.