The Bush administration made the right call in pulling the plug on plans to gut Walla Walla's Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
And it did so for the right reason _ the people of the Walla Walla Valley demonstrated that keeping the VA Medical Center open as a full-service hospital was essential for the veterans of the region.
``It was a community that came together,'' said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. ``I have been so impressed with the people of Walla Walla. .... It was the veterans, the support groups, the doctors, the hospitals, the local leaders who made this happen. There wasn't a person who wasn't involved.'' Astonishingly, Murray's words aren't political hyperbole.
Various segments of this community united behind saving the Medical Center, and they did so because it was the right thing to do.
Veterans would have been left without adequate medical care. The VA had no plan to fill the gap in service if the hospital had been turned into an outpatient clinic.
VA officials, for example, had no plans _ nor had they requested funding _ to provide veterans with long-term care. Mental-health care for veterans in the Valley would have also vanished and, again, no plans had been made to meet that important need.
Murray and Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., took on VA officials and aggressively made the case for keeping the hospital open on behalf of veterans.
Local elected and government officials from the county, cities and the Port of Walla Walla also took a no-holds barred approach to this issue.
Veterans were even more vocal. At several public meetings they told how critical the VA Medical Center was to their health and improving their quality of life. The veterans were, at times, emotional _ but under control.
They didn't rant and rave. Instead, they offered reasoned, heartfelt testimony.
So, too, did many others in the community who are touched in some way by the hospital.
This newspaper played a role with its comprehensive news coverage and commentary on the issue, including reminding the public _ and VA officials _ that former House Speaker Tom Foley pushed a law through Congress in 1987 that made it illegal to change the mission of the Walla Walla VA Medical Center. That law remains on the books.
Saving the VA was a communitywide effort.
The heavy lifting isn't done. Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi has ordered a comprehensive study of the Walla Walla facility to develop a master plan for the Medical Center and the campus.
Changes are coming to the Medical Center.
The shape of those changes will be, in a large part, determined by this community.
Now is not the time to rest. It's time to work together to push through a clear plan so the VA Medical Center can best serve the veterans and this Valley for many more years.
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