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April 22, 2004

Secretary Anthony Principi
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary Principi:

The purpose for this letter is to respectfully request that you postpone a decision regarding the future of Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center located in Walla Walla, Washington and remove Walla Walla from the closure list.

The Walla Walla community would like to invite the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to engage in a dialogue with the local community as promised by Dr. Jonathon Perlin during his visit to Walla Walla on April 8, 2004. We envision undertaking a joint master plan to develop a forward-looking strategy for the 84-acre site and its 28 buildings, and a plan for continuing to deliver and expand the provision of health care services for veterans located in our region.

The first phase of the master plan would be to cooperatively develop a cost to build a state of the art modern medical facility to carry out the full complement of medical services that are currently provided at the VA Medical Center. This could encompass a new stand-alone medical facility on the campus or the substantial remodel of an existing facility. It would also offer the full range of medical, psychiatric, drug & alcohol treatment services, as well as, long-term residential options identified in the mission statement for the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla.

Once the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has determined its medical facility requirements, Phase II of the master plan would commence. This would be a locally driven process designed to determine alternative uses for the property and buildings determined to be surplus to the needs of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. There are a variety of economic uses that could be explored through enhanced use lease or other options along with determining the restoration costs of each of the properties.

Once the master plan is completed, we through a partnership can determine with the assistance of local, state and federal officials the financial viability of executing the plan. Our first priority would be securing the capital resources to construct a modern medical facility on campus to serve our veterans.

We would anticipate a master plan process would take 12 to 18 months to complete. We would appreciate your timely review of our request.

This master plan represents an opportunity to develop a modern medical facility with a full complement of services for our veterans while substantially reducing the amount of property and buildings that must be maintained by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Sincerely,

cc: Senator Patty Murray
Senator Maria Cantwell
Congressman George Nethercutt