Hudson Valley Democrats and Republicans are united in opposition to a recommendation by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to close a major VA medical center in Wappingers Falls.

“It was very helpful to us,” State Assembly Member Kieran Lalor, an Iraq War veteran, said Tuesday in explaining how the Castle Point VA Medical Center in Dutchess County has come up big for his constituents and family.

His brother was treated at Castle Point in 1990 following an accident on a ship off the Mediterranean coast of France that left his leg shattered.

Lalor was angry to recently learn VA Secretary Denis McDonough recommended the shutdown of Castle Point.

The move, if approved by the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission for the VA, would require some Hudson Valley veterans to go to the VA Medical Center in Montrose, Westchester County, about 25 miles away.

Lalor said his brother, who was in his 20s at the time of his injury, might have been able to handle longer trips for treatment, “but if you take a 70-year-old veteran, an 80-year-old veteran or a 90-year-old World War II veteran, the inconvenience is unbearable and unacceptable.”

The recommendation is part of McDonough’s plan to restructure veterans’ care nationwide.

Castle Point Medical Director Dawn Schaal said Tuesday the change makes sense, especially since, according to the VA, it would cost an estimated $115 million to fully upgrade the Dutchess County facility.

Schaal said the VA would build a new outpatient center in nearby Fishkill, and vets could receive inpatient care in Montrose or with a non-VA provider who partners with the VA.

“It will help our veterans and us meet the changing needs and continue to provide that high-quality care that they deserve,” she said during an interview on the Castle Point campus.

Elected officials are resisting the planned shakeup.

Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado wrote to the VA secretary requesting more information about the VA’s plan to keep vital services close to veterans’ homes.

“…we will not support any plan that involves closing a VA facility without an assurance that veterans will have equally accessible services of the same or higher quality,” the congressmen wrote in the March 16 letter.

Officials from both major parties rallied Saturday in Ulster County against the Castle Point closure.

Both Delgado and his 2022 election opponent, Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, attended the event in solidarity.

In an email to Spectrum News 1 on Tuesday, VA spokesperson Terrence Hayes wrote the VA’s plans are long-term, and are still up for scrutiny and possibly, denial.

“Nothing is changing now for veteran access to care or VA employees,” Hayes said. “Any potential changes to VA’s health care infrastructure may be several years away and are dependent on commission, presidential and congressional decisions, as well as robust stakeholder engagement and planning. In the long run, AIR recommendations could impact VHA facilities and staff, but it’s too early to know exactly what or where those impacts might be.”

Lalor, like his Democratic and Republican colleagues, is still skeptical and starting to fight against the consolidation now.

“The severe inconvenience, the betrayal of veterans, is going to start in the near-term,” Lalor said, “not in 10 years.”