DUBLIN, Ga. — A veterans administration report shows Dublin's VA hospital is outdated it recommends it replacing it. The report comes as part of a national report released Monday recommending closing dozens of facilities nationwide and opening hundreds of new ones.
The report says Georgia's veterans would be better served by a new VA hospital near Macon.
According to the Veterans Administration report, a Macon-area hospital would be more convenient for more veterans.
About 38,000 veteran enrollees live within an hour of Macon, nearly twice as many as live near Dublin, the VA says. Manuel Davila is the Dublin VA Medical Director.
"The assessment did identify it was based on where our veterans are that there is a tremendous growth opportunity in the Macon area," Davila said.
According to the veterans administration the buildings lack modern plumbing, electricity, and ventilation. It also says the campus lacks parking, and many areas are not wheelchair-accessible. Bob Walker has lived in Dublin for more than 70 years.
"I don't understand why it is considered outdated -- it looks perfectly up-to-date to me and it is so convenient," Walker said.
The Carl Vinson Medical Center was built in 1944. According to the veterans administration, it would cost more than $225 million to modernize and upgrade the facility.
Leander May, a veteran from Warner Robins, has gone to the Dublin VA for 20 years, and had knee replacements on both knees. He says he would rather go to the Dublin hospital than go to Macon.
"Macon has a lot of negativity about it -- drugs, crime -- things like that," May said.
The report also recommends creating a new outpatient clinic in Dublin to serve the area's veterans.
So while the report recommends a new VA center be built in Macon with an outpatient clinic in Dublin, those recommendations are not final.
They will go to a VA panel that will make final decisions next year.
Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight responded to the report saying, "If anything the report is a call to action for the Dublin VA to identify additional services, it can offer the 170,000 veterans who live in its 49-county region."