2001-32•
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RESOLUTION NO. 2001 - 32
Supporting Maintaining Services at the North Chicago Veteran's Affairs Medical Center.
WHEREAS, in 1999 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Integrated Service Network (VISN) 12
Delivery System Options Study identified inefficiencies in the existing veterans' healthcare system and
recommended the closure of the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and
WHEREAS, the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus continues to provide essential
primary health care, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and other valuable health services to Lake
County area veterans; and
WHEREAS, the 1999 recommendation was never implemented and in 2000 the VA initiated a new
study of the veterans' healthcare system called the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES)
initiative; and
WHEREAS, the VA released the CARES report for VISN 12, the Great Lakes region, in June 2001; and
WHEREAS, the CARES study presented four options for the delivery of healthcare services to veterans
in the Chicago metropolitan area; and
WHEREAS, all four options recommended maintaining the current level of services at the North Chicago
Veterans Affairs Medical Center and pursuing additional sharing agreements with the Department of Defense
and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and
WHEREAS, the VA Undersecretary for Health has endorsed one of the four options that would maintain
existing services in North Chicago and expand VA and Department of Defense sharing agreements; and
WHEREAS, the VA has initiated a 60 -day comment period on the CARES report and its
recommendations; and
WHEREAS, the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Buffalo Grove supports the CARES
recommendations that would maintain services at the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center and
pursue additional sharing agreements with the Department of Defense and the Great Lakes Naval Training
Center.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the President and Board of Trustees, strongly supports the
CARES recommendations that would maintain services at the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center
and pursue additional sharing agreements with the Department of Defense and the Great Lakes Naval Training
Center; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village of Buffalo Grove applauds the VA's efforts to
work with local stakeholders as the Department evaluates its services to better meet the needs of the nation's
veterans.
DATED this 10th day of September 2001.
AYES: 6 - Marienthal, Braiman, Glover, Berman, Johnson, Kahn
NAYS: 0 - None ABSENT: 0 - None
PASSED: September 10, 2001 APPROVED: September 10, 2001
ATTEST:
Jane abian, Village Clerk Elliott Hartstein, Village President