Cold War Veterans Blog

VA Transferring 85.4 Acres from North Chicago VA Medical Center

WASHINGTON (June 11, 2009)-- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced plans to transfer 85.4 acres of land from the North Chicago VA Medical Center to the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.



"Savings resulting from the transfer of land will enable VA to support
its ongoing efforts to improve health care services to Veterans in the
Chicago area by better aligning facilities and assets," said Dr. Gerald
M. Cross, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Health.



The university has agreed to use the land solely for the purpose of
educating students in the health sciences, a significant part of VA's
mission. Since 2002, the university has been using the property under an
enhanced-use lease agreement with VA. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
recently determined that the majority of the land leased to the
university would not be needed by VA in the future.



The transfer agreement also facilitates the use of 8.5 acres to be used
for the planned Joint Federal Health Care Facility to be shared by VA
and the Navy. The transfer will save VA the cost of maintaining property
it no longer needs.



The property has been most recently used as a staging area for
construction of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center,
a joint VA and Department of Defense medical facility scheduled to open
in late 2010.