ELIZABETHTOWN — Elizabethtown Community Hospital is still awaiting word on the future of its Veterans Clinic.

Hospital CEO Rod Boula said ECH submitted its required documents by the May 15 deadline and, so far, they have not heard anything.

“What we sent, we feel, are fair proposals,” Boula said.

The hospital shipped four 28-pound boxes of materials to Buffalo, where the determination will be made about whether the clinic will stay where it is or be moved to the Tri-Lakes area.

Many veterans turned out for a May meeting to protest any change in location by the Veterans Administration.

“The prisoners in the state are treated better than veterans,” Boula said. “We have had a tremendous amount of support from the veterans.”

PROPOSALS

One ECH proposal had the hospital supplying the physician’s assistant, nurse and staff for the Elizabethtown clinic.

The other added a satellite clinic in Wilmington to help service the veterans in the Lake Placid and Saranac Lake areas.

Boula felt there is a trend by the VA to change clinic locations from hospital-based operations to so-called storefront locations. He cited the clinics in Malone and Plattsburgh as examples, with the primary reason being lower overhead.

The clinics have to submit a yearly cost report in which square footage dictates the overhead costs.

CHALLENGES

ECH Board President Rick Hoffmann said the board is very much committed to keeping the clinic in Elizabethtown.