DeLauro Meets With Connecticut Veterans at Risk of Losing their Places in West Haven Retirement Home

NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today met with 15 Connecticut veterans at risk of losing their Veterans Affairs' covered residential care at West Haven's Seacrest Retirement Home. She also spoke with U.S. VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel about those veterans' cases, as well as the eight veterans at Highview Manor in Hamden and Mattatuck Health Care in Waterbury who are in the same situation. These 23 veterans were recently notified by the VA Connecticut Healthcare System that, due to a VA error, care in these homes has been covered when it should not have been and will subsequently be ending.

Seacrest owner Lewis Bower, Jr. and family members also attended today's West Haven meeting.

DeLauro released the following statement on the situation:

"This is a terrible problem that is in no way the fault of the brave veterans who sacrificed for America's safety and security, and deserve to live in peace and comfort. These veterans have been in their homes for years, some as long as a decade, and many have severe, service-connected mental health issues and other disabilities. I have been in contact with VA officials on both the federal and state level to determine what happened, and the best course of action to right this wrong. I will continue to work with the VA, my colleagues in Congress, and others, to keep these veterans in their homes."