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Vets Lose 85.4 Acres at N.Chicago VA Medical Center to Private University

Just in case there are any doubts as to the VA’s ability to transfer all rights, interest and title in properties under Enhanced Use Leases.  Scroll down to read the VA News Release below re transfer of 85.4 acres from North Chicago VA Medical Center to the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine under an Enhanced Use Lease.  Then read  below that to see what they’ve done at the WLA VA Medical Center.  Make no mistake, this is exactly what will happen at the Sepulveda VA  Medical Center if we do not stop the land grab by private sector developers New Directions and a Community of Friends.
The VA’s use of Enhanced Use Leases leases to dispose of thousand of acres of prime real estate, worth billions of dollars,  donated to the U.S. Government specifically for Veterans hospitals and medical centers is despicable.  These lands belong to the Veterans   They are sacred lands, bought and paid for with their blood and their lives.  No one has the right to lease, sell or give them away without the Veterans approval and the Veterans do not approve of this misuse of their lands and assets   We must not let it happen at the Sepulveda VA.
Peggy Burgess
Member NHWNC Land U se Committee
peggy8960@aol.com
—– Original Message —–
From: “VA Media Relations” <va.media.relations@VA.GOV>
To: <VANEWS-L@WWW.LISTSERV.VA.GOV>
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:17 AM
Subject: VA Transferring 85 Acres from North Chicago VA Medical Center

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

VA Transferring 85.4 Acres from North Chicago VA Medical Center

WASHINGTON (June 11, 2009)– The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced plans to transfer 85.4 acres of land from the North Chicago VA Medical Center to the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and
Science.

“Savings resulting from the transfer of land will enable VA to support
its ongoing efforts to improve health care services to Veterans in the
Chicago area by better aligning facilities and assets,” said Dr. Gerald
M. Cross, VA’s Acting Under Secretary for Health.

The university has agreed to use the land solely for the purpose of
educating students in the health sciences, a significant part of VA’s
mission. Since 2002, the university has been using the property under an
enhanced-use lease agreement with VA. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
recently determined that the majority of the land leased to the
university would not be needed by VA in the future.

The transfer agreement also facilitates the use of 8.5 acres to be used
for the planned Joint Federal Health Care Facility to be shared by VA
and the Navy. The transfer will save VA the cost of maintaining property
it no longer needs.

The property has been most recently used as a staging area for
construction of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center,
a joint VA and Department of Defense medical facility scheduled to open
in late 2010.

<end of press release>
————————–
What they’ve done at the West LA VAMC
The Wes Los Angeles VA Medical Center (WLA VAMC) has violated both the Congressional Act and Deed of 1888 by abusing and misusing Veterans sacred and sovereign land with special agreements entered into with non-Veteran businesses and non-profit organizations at the expense of America’s Military Veterans.

The WLA VAMC has entered into a 20-year enhanced sharing agreement with Brentwood School, one of the wealthiest private schools in the nation, for an athletic field that is off limits to Veterans.  The sharing agreement expires in 2020.

The WLA VAMC leased the only two theaters on Veterans land to a non-Veteran, Hollywood entertainment group for a “community cultural center” for the benefit of wealthy neighboring communities. The enhanced agreement expires in December 2025.

The WLA VAMC entered into a 30-year no-bid, rent-free enhanced sharing agreement for a billion-dollar 16-acre parcel of Veterans land with a neighboring wealthy homeowners group to build a public park.

The WLA VAMC leased about 10 acres of Veterans land to Enterprise Car Rental for vehicle storage, and dozens more at the WLA VA, are further evidence of the intentions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 7:01 pm and is filed under VA4Vets.org. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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