Seniors caravan to Moulton's office to protest Lynn VA clinic closing plan

Jul. 18—SALEM — As a veteran of World War II, Ralph Jamieson knows what a troop movement looks like. On Friday, his troops consisted mostly of fellow senior citizens like him, and the movement headed straight to U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton's office in Salem.

The 95-year-old Jamieson led the way as about 65 people, some with walkers or wheelchairs, rode in a caravan from Lynn to Salem to present Moulton's office with a petition opposing the potential closing of the Veterans Affairs Clinic in Lynn. Jamieson was the first one through the door.

"The VA clinic is the best thing that happened to Lynn and I want to keep it that way," he told Neesha Suarez, Moulton's director of constituent services, as he handed over a petition with more than 500 signatures.

The caravan arrived noisily at Moulton's office on Front Street at about 1:20 p.m., with sirens blaring from a police escort and horns honking from about a dozen vehicles, including a small yellow school bus. But the protesters were hardly confrontational. Moulton was not there, but he has expressed support for keeping the clinic open, as well as a clinic in Gloucester that could also be closed. Jamieson told Suarez that Moulton is "doing a great job" and said he would vote for him again. Moulton's staff passed around a plate of cookies.

"We're happy to have you," Suarez told the visitors.

Instead, the protestors' wrath was directed at the VA. The agency came out with a report in March recommending replacing the VA clinics in Lynn and Gloucester with a new clinic in the Salem area.

Mike Sweeney, Lynn's veterans services director, said people have been protesting outside the VA clinic in Lynn every Friday afternoon since — including the 95-year-old Jamieson.

Sweeney said the report is "more than recommendations." He said the VA tried to close the clinic about 15 years ago and is back with the same plan.

"We're sick and tired of it," he said.

Sweeney said the clinic has 2,000 enrolled members, who use it for primary care and other services.

Officials in Gloucester have also expressed concern about the possible closing of the clinic in their city, although no one from Gloucester took part in Friday's caravan, according to Pam Edwards, a community organizer for the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, which helped organize the event.

"If they want us to help them we would join in their fight too," Edwards said.

The VA's recommendations are part of a nationwide review of the agency's health care services. They include the closing or overhauling of hospitals and medical facilities across the country, including the VA medical center in Bedford, as part of a modernizing plan. The report must be submitted to Congress and to a presidentially appointed commission. That commission will conduct public hearings before submitting its own recommendations to the president for further review in 2023, according to the VA.

Melissa Bryant, deputy assistant secretary for public affairs for the VA, said in an email that President Joe Biden has insisted that veterans in the 21st century should not be forced to receive care in early 20th century buildings. She said the median age of the agency's hospitals is nearly 60 years, and Biden has requested the largest ever investment in VA infrastructure in his fiscal year 2023 budget.

Bryant said that whatever Congress decides to do with the recommendations, "we will continue to fight for the funding and modernization that our veterans deserve."

Joan Noble, a Lynn resident who took part in the caravan to Moulton's office, said she was among those who fought the closing of the Lynn VA clinic 15 years ago. Noble, who is 85 and uses a wheelchair, is a past national president of the Polish Legion of American Veterans Ladies Auxiliary. She said she and her late husband volunteered at the clinic for years.

"My whole life has been devoted to the veterans," she said. "I'm 85 years old and I can't believe I'm going through this again."

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.