Proposed shutdown of VA hospitals sparks torrent of protests [View All]

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y., Oct. 27 — Once a week, Frank Woods meets up with a dozen fellow World War II veterans to exorcise the nightmares and other chilling aftereffects of battles they fought more than a half-century ago.

''It really helps when you've got somebody to talk to,'' said Woods, 79, leaning on a cane in a courtyard at the Veterans Affairs hospital in this lake-shore town in western New York.

The 70-year-old hospital, which sits on 170 acres of tranquil parkland on the edge of open country, is one of seven around the country that could be closed as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs looks for ways to streamline its $26 billion health care network.

That threat drew more than 1,500 protesters, many in uniform, to a boisterous hearing last week before a federal commission charged with overseeing the biggest overhaul of the VA system since the end of World War II.


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