Consider Prop 8 before you vote

To the editor:

The situation for the need of approval of Proposition 8, in my opinion, has changed drastically in the last year. The Veterans’ Administration, in the past years, has done everything possible to compensate the local veterans for the inconvenience of not having a veterans hospital here in the Valley.

I have used the Veterans medical facilities in McAllen for the last
20 years and find it impossible to laud them enough for their excellent services and the efforts they devoted to improving said service. The excellent program adopted this year gives the local veterans one of the top medical programs in the country; An excellent veterans clinic for first class preventive medical care. In addition, the veteran is given the choice of three Valley hospitals which he or she can chose from for his or her medical care. The Veterans Administration pays for the care in these hospitals.

On Nov. 3, serious consideration should be given to Proposition 8 before voting for the building of a new veteran’s hospital. As planned, it would be built in Harlingen, which would not be as convenient to the large population of local veterans as the program now provided. The cost to Texas citizens for a veterans hospital is unprecedented because it does not meet the federal requirements for a veterans hospital.

The initial cost of the project is just part of a big layout of taxpayer’s money; equipping the hospital to equal the modern hospitals we have in McAllen would be an extremely expensive undertaking. Moreover, the doctor and nurse shortage predicted, for the near future, could be disastrous should personnel not be available to properly staff the hospital to paraphrase, be careful what you ask for, you might just get it!

Billy Rogers

Mission