Veterans Affairs has decided not to consolidate its four Boston area hospitals into one medical center. A recently completed two-year study convinced officials not to centralize the Boston area VA medical services. Instead, officials will look at other options, which include transferring some services from the VA’s Bedford location to its Brockton facility and merging services at either its Jamaica Plains or West Roxbury sites. The VA had planned to close numerous older hospitals, opting to create more community clinics as part of a 20-year plan to revamp the massive health care operation. The plan was not well received among many veterans.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean Sea, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.
