I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 538 

To provide for the health care needs of veterans in far South Texas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. ORTIZ (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. DOGGETT, and Mr. CUELLAR) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the health care needs of veterans in far 

South Texas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘South Texas Veterans 

5 Access to Care Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; DEFINITION. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The current and future health care needs of 

9 veterans residing in the Far South Texas area are 


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1 not being fully met by the Department of Veterans 

2 Affairs. 

3 (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs esti4 mates that more than 114,000 veterans reside in 

5 Far South Texas. 

6 (3) In its Capital Asset Realignment for En7 hanced Services study, the Department of Veterans 

8 Affairs found that fewer than three percent of its 

9 enrollees in the Valley-Coastal Bend Market of Vet10 erans Integrated Service Network 17 reside within 

11 its acute hospital access standards. 

12 (4) Travel times for veterans from the market 

13 referred to in paragraph (3) can exceed six hours 

14 from their residences to the nearest Department of 

15 Veterans Affairs hospital for acute inpatient health 

16 care. 

17 (5) Even with the significant travel times, vet18 erans from Far South Texas demonstrate a high de19 mand for health care services from the Department 

20 of Veterans Affairs. 

21 (6) Current deployments involving members of 

22 the Texas National Guard and Reservists from 

23 Texas will continue to inflate projections by the De24 partment of Veterans Affairs of demand. 


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1 (b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the term 

2 ‘‘Far South Texas’’ means the following counties of the 

3 State of Texas: Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, 

4 Crockett, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Goliad, Hidalgo, Jack5 son, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, 

6 Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Webb, Willacy, and 

7 Zapata. 

8 SEC. 3. MEDICAL CARE FOR VETERANS IN FAR SOUTH 

9 TEXAS. 

10 (a) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 Veterans Affairs shall determine, and notify Congress pur13 suant to subsection (b), whether the needs of veterans in 

14 Far South Texas for acute inpatient hospital care shall 

15 be met— 

16 (1) through a project for a public-private ven17 ture to provide inpatient services and long-term care 

18 to veterans in an existing facility in Far South 

19 Texas; 

20 (2) through a project for construction of a new 

21 full-service, 50-bed hospital with a 125-bed nursing 

22 home in Far South Texas; or 

23 (3) through a sharing agreement with a mili24 tary treatment facility in Far South Texas. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION AND PROSPECTUS.—Not later 

2 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report— 

4 (1) identifying which of the three options speci5 fied in subsection (a) has been selected by the Sec6 retary; and 

7 (2) providing, for the option selected, a pro8 spectus that includes, at a minimum, the matter 

9 specified in paragraphs (1) through (8) of section 

10 8104(b) of title 38, United States Code, and the 

11 project timelines. 

12 SEC. 4. PUBLIC-PRIVATE VENTURE FOR MEDICAL CARE 

13 FOR VETERANS IN FAR SOUTH TEXAS. 

14 (a) PROJECT.—If the option selected by the Sec15 retary of Veterans Affairs under section 3(a) is the option 

16 specified in paragraph (1) of that section for a project of 

17 a public-private venture to provide inpatient and long-term 

18 care to veterans at an existing facility in Far South Texas, 

19 then the Secretary shall, subject to the availability of ap20 propriations for such purpose, take such steps as nec21 essary to enter into an agreement with an appropriate pri22 vate-sector entity to provide for inpatient and long-term 

23 care services for veterans at an existing facility in one of 

24 the counties of Far South Texas. Such an agreement may 

25 include provision for construction of a new wing or other 


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1 addition at such facility to provide additional services that 

2 will, under the agreement, be leased by the United States 

3 and dedicated to care and treatment of veterans by the 

4 Secretary under title 38, United States Code. 

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary 

7 for a public-private venture project under this section. 

8 SEC. 5. NEW DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MED9 ICAL CENTER, FAR SOUTH TEXAS. 

10 (a) PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.—If the option se11 lected by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 

12 3(a) is the option specified in paragraph (2) of that section 

13 for a project for construction in Far South Texas of a 

14 new full-service, 175-bed facility providing inpatient and 

15 long-term care services, such facility shall be located in 

16 the county in Far South Texas that the Secretary deter17 mines most suitable to meet the health care needs of vet18 erans in the region. 

19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Construction, Major 

21 Projects, account of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

22 in addition to any other amounts authorized for that ac23 count, the amount of $175,000,000 for the project author24 ized by subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 6. SHARED FACILITY WITH DEPARTMENT OF DE2 FENSE, FAR SOUTH TEXAS. 

3 (a) PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.—If the option se4 lected by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 

5 3(a) is the option specified in paragraph (3) of that section 

6 for a project of a Department of Veterans Affairs-Depart7 ment of Defense shared facility to provide inpatient and 

8 long-term care to veterans at an existing facility in Far 

9 South Texas, then the Secretary shall, subject to the avail10 ability of appropriations for such purpose, take such steps 

11 as necessary to enter into an agreement with an appro12 priate military treatment facility to provide for inpatient 

13 and long-term care services for veterans at an existing fa14 cility in one of the counties of Far South Texas. Such an 

15 agreement may include provision for construction of a new 

16 wing or other addition at such facility to provide addi17 tional services that will, under the agreement, be leased 

18 by the United States and dedicated to care and treatment 

19 of veterans by the Secretary under title 38, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary 

23 for a Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of De24 fense venture project under this section. 

Æ 


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