Statement About Plans for a New Veterans Administration Hospital and Transfer of the Former Hospital Site to the "Legacy of Parks" Program

TODAY I am pleased to announce a decision which will advance two important goals of this Administration: (1) the improvement of the medical care provided to the Nation's veterans; and (2) the improvement of our parks and recreational facilities.

These two goals may seem at first to be unrelated. In fact, however, they are closely tied together. For, in deciding to build a new medical facility to replace an old one, we at the same time are able to make the site on which the old facility was located available for other purposes.

We have decided to replace the 521-bed hospital at San Fernando which was destroyed by an earthquake earlier this year. The new replacement hospital will contain 630 beds and will cost $28.9 million. It will be located at Loma Linda--where VA treatment will be more accessible to veterans in the rapidly growing area around Riverside and San Bernardino.

This new hospital will be closely affiliated with the Loma Linda Medical School, an affiliation which holds great promise for future improvements in medical care for veterans. The Loma Linda Medical School is noted for the high quality of its medical training, for its strong support of overseas medical missions, and for its deep dedication to community service. We believe that both the school and the hospital will benefit from that close, sharing relationship which has fostered so much medical progress in other areas. This decision is consistent with our continuing desire to improve the Nation's health through a strong partnership between public and private institutions.

As an outgrowth of this decision, I have also asked the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to declare the 94-acre site on which the San Fernando hospital was formerly located to be excess to the needs of the Federal Government. It is my hope that this wooded and beautifully landscaped tract will be devoted to recreational purposes, in keeping with our commitment to create a "Legacy of Parks" for future generations.

This decision grows out of a careful review which has been conducted by the Administrator of Veterans Affairs and other Government officials. What this action demonstrates, in my judgment, is that we can foster social progress with all the building and modernization that implies--and at the same time enhance environmental quality. It shows that these two goals do not have to be inconsistent, and that if we plan carefully enough they can be made complementary.