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Tour to focus on veterans’ services, federal and state cooperation
February 18, 2009
AUGUSTA – State Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-York County, and State Rep. Pamela Jabar Trinward, D-Waterville, will join Congressman Mike Michaud Thursday for a tour of Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center in Augusta and to discuss federal and state cooperative efforts on behalf of Maine’s veterans. Togus VAMC is the oldest veteran’s facility in the nation, and can accommodate 167 patients for medical, surgical, mental health, and nursing home care.
“While Togus primarily operates on federal funding, this tour will be helpful in discerning the additional needs of veterans and their families that can be supplemented at the state level,” said Sullivan.
Congressman Michaud is the chair of Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, and in this role, has pushed for increased funding to veterans’ health care facilities in Maine and in other rural parts of the nation. At the state level, Sullivan and Trinward are the chairs of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs, the committee with jurisdiction over state veterans’ support programs and the Maine National Guard.
“It was unfortunate to hear the news this week that even locally, the members of the 133rd Engineering Battalion are going to be deployed yet again,” said Trinward. “Now more than ever, we need to be working together to support our veterans and their families, and we appreciate the chance to discuss these issues further with Congressman Michaud and the Togus staff.”
More than 85 percent of the members of Maine’s National Guard have been deployed to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to caring for those injured while serving in the Middle East and South Asia, Togus serves all veterans living in Maine, as well as directs comprehensive community-based outpatient care in Caribou, Bangor, Calais, Rumford, and Saco. Togus also has a close relationship with the veterans’ health care centers in Bangor, Caribou, Lewiston, Portland and Sanford.
Michaud, Sullivan and Trinward will meet at 10:15 a.m., and meet with Togus VAMC Director Brian Stiller, Patient Advocate Mark Palmquist, and other patients and staff as they tour the facility.
Contact:
Sen. Nancy Sullivan, 282-5594
Rep. Pam Trinward, 872-7545
Marc Malon, Legislative Aide (Sullivan), 287-1515
Casey Johnson Bromberg, Legislative Aide (Trinward), 287-1430