By Jackie Hampton,
Publisher,
On May 15, 2021 the dialysis unit at the GV Sonny Montgomery Hospital, located at 1500 West Woodrow Wilson in Jackson, MS, closed their out-patient unit, where Air Force Veteran Clarence Hopkins had been receiving treatment 3 times a week for over ten years.
On Monday, he and a group of veterans and other supporters gathered outside the medical center in protest of the closure.
Hopkins stated he, along with other veterans who had been receiving treatment at the hospital, received a letter March 15, 2021, stating the unit would be closed in 60 days and he would have to find a new facility for treatment. He said hearing this news was very disappointing and disheartening even though conversations had been floating for quite a while that this could happen. He found it hard to believe that veterans like himself, who had risked their lives in serving the country would be made to believe their lives did not matter. He said, “They are playing hard ball with our lives, just throwing us away.”
Hopkins, who is 100% disabled, joined the military 56 years ago and was honorably discharged. He said that Monday when the unit officially closed down, there were 35 out-patients using the facility each week, of which 33 were black.
Hopkins said he has sent letters of appeal to the Biden-Harris Administration, U.S. Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson and U.S. Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Each he said acknowledged receipt of the letter stating they would look into the matter.
He had also written a letter to Denis McDonough, secretary of the Veteran’s Administration, who has assigned him a case number and committed to getting back with him by May 27, 2021.
Hopkins, who graduated from Jim Hill High School in 1965, was happy to see his classmate Kathy Harris Brown at the protest.
Brown said, “I find it imperative to speak on behalf of my classmate and friend and I speak not only for myself but for many who graduated with us.” She went on to say, “I find it hard to believe that these veterans will be denied accessibility to the dialysis unit at our local V.A. Hospital. This leaves the veterans having to find other facilities in order to continue their life altering treatments, whereas the survival rate of the dialysis patients receiving dialysis at this facility is one of the highest in our country.” She continued, “As far as the closing of the VA dialysis unit, the veterans have filed an injunction which they hope to the closure of the unit overturned.
Verna Manning Myles, another classmate that took part in the protest, told The Mississippi Link, “My husband was killed in Viet Nam in 1969 fighting for this country and I am here today fighting for those that returned home, with issues.”
Even though Hopkins says he has not made the transition to another facility, Susan Varcie, public affairs officer at the VA, issued a statement saying: “The outpatient dialysis unit at the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center completed the transition of patients to community care dialysis centers last week.”
Hopkins said even though people think the unit is closed down they are keeping it open for emergency room patients only. When asked when his next treatment was due, Hopkins said it was due yesterday so he went to the ER at the VA and they gave him treatment but was advised that he would need to locate to another facility for future dialysis. “There are other facilities of which I have explored but they have from 130-150 out-patients with limited medical staff to service that many,” said Hopkins. He said he’d been going to the VA since 2011 and now his plans are in limbo. “The VA will only accept me if I am really sick,” he said.
Varcie also in a written statement told The Mississippi Link: “Focusing on VA’s priority to provide high quality, safe health care to each patient, this decision was made after a thorough examination of our aging infrastructure and its limitations.”
Hopkins wanted to know if the infrastructure is aging, then why aren’t they closing down other parts of the hospital? He said, “It looks like discrimination to me and that our civil rights are being violated.”
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