{"id":649,"date":"2026-06-17T19:31:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2026-06-17T19:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:31:26","slug":"va-secretary-swings-through-san-antonio-talks-about-fast-tracking-new-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=649","title":{"rendered":"VA Secretary swings through San Antonio, talks about fast-tracking new hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins swung through San Antonio on Wednesday, touring the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital, talking up the potential of psychedelics for PTSD treatment and warning that Democrats want to cut benefits for veterans.<\/p>\n

Read more Texas GOP convention bans convicted felons in party leadership<\/a><\/p>\n

Collins, a former Georgia congressman, took over the role shortly after President Donald Trump\u2019s return to office in 2025. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s stayed out of the spotlight compared to other cabinet members, while seeking to modernize his agency in ways some wouldn\u2019t have expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Mr. President, what do you want me to do at the VA? What\u2019s your goal?’\u201d Collins recalled Wednesday morning at the VFW in Universal City. \u201cHe just looked at me, he sort of laughed. He said, \u2018Doug, you\u2019re out of central casting, just go take care of veterans.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government is getting closer to finalizing plans for a new 1.6 million-square-foot Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in the South Texas Medical Center, which Collins spoke briefly about.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the budget this year, 30 million for land acquisition and moving forward with plans to build a new facility down here,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe see the issues with parking, we see the issues that are happening, but it\u2019s also part of a growing population of veterans out here, which we\u2019re really proud of. We\u2019re trying to move this facility up to get it done as quickly as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also talked up efforts to expand mental health care for veterans, including efforts to boost research into psychedelics, and get more veterans using their benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taken on ideas like redoing Community Care, redoing how people get into it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about a lot of things [like] how we reorganize our hospitals, putting them first, going into psychedelic treatment, going into alternative treatments, doing the things that need to be [done] for the veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also stumped for Trump-endorsed congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz at the Universal City event, warning that the GOP is headed into a tough 2026 midterm, and leaders in D.C. need De La Cruz to help them stop Democrats from cutting veterans\u2019 health benefits.<\/p>\n

Read more Northwest San Antonio development announces new businesses near UTSA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a discussion going on among the other side, the Democrats, who basically are trying to say things like \u2018Community care growth is happening a little too fast,’\u201d Collins said. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019ll just tell you what the translation of that is: \u2018We want to cut veterans benefits.\u2019 I need Carlos up there to say, \u2018no.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins used his speeches at Audie Murphy andthe VFW to blame the media for casting doubt on the amount of benefits veterans should receive. <\/p>\n

But despite numerous veterans\u2019 efforts in the works here in San Antonio \u2014 a new VA hospital, a potential relocation of the Defense Health Agency, and a new business incubator for veterans \u2014 Collins darted out of events without ever speaking directly to the press.<\/p>\n

Democrats have also been making a play for veteran voters ahead of the 2026 midterm election, trying to capitalize on an unpopular war with Iran and the Trump Administration\u2019s reductions to the VA\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n

The administration cut nearly 28,000 VA employees between January and December of 2025 \u2014 including 2,200 in Texas alone \u2014 resulting in staff reductions at veterans\u2019 health clinics.<\/p>\n

In an interview after the campaign event in Universal City, De La Cruz said he also didn\u2019t get much time for questions with the secretary. <\/p>\n

He said Collins used their closed-door roundtable with local veterans this morning to share updates about changes he\u2019s made at the agency, and stressed the uphill nature of turning around problems inherited from the previous administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t get a lot of one-on-one time, but I\u2019m just so grateful that he came down here for our veterans,\u201d De La Cruz said.<\/p>\n

Read more Rackspace cuts 750 workers as the tech company pivots to artificial intelligence<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secretary Doug Collins briefly talked about the government getting closer to finalizing plans for a new VA hospital in the Medical Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nVA Secretary swings through San Antonio, talks about fast-tracking new hospital - San Antonio moving report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=649\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA Secretary swings through San Antonio, talks about fast-tracking new hospital - 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