CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The Chillicothe VA Medical Center is not going to be closed and its services are back to pre-COVID levels, according the hospital’s executive director of public affairs, Alan Graves.

“There was a time when we thought that was a possibility,” he said of closing, “but the AIR Commission has now nixed that approach. Chillicothe won’t be closed and replaced with an outpatient facility. Our community and neighboring ones fought diligently on that not happening.”

The AIR Commission is the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission that has made recommendations on veterans’ access to care, based on assessments it received from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Graves was responding to a Dec. 7 Marietta Times article on the concerns voiced by county commissioners and Army veterans James Booth and Shannon Miller. Booth, of Washington County, and Miller, of Meigs County, said services had been reduced at the Chillicothe facility, particularly in the area of mental health. They also were upset by the AIR Commission pronouncement that there were veterans hospitals — including Chillicothe — that were being considered for closure.

In an advocacy letter he has written to protest reductions in veterans’ medical care, Booth said, “We were told program reductions were a result of larger budget cuts at the federal level and that additional cuts may be on the horizon.”

Graves said he couldn’t address that issue, but he could make assurances about the Chillicothe situation.

“We did reduce services during COVID somewhat, but all services are now back 100 percent,” he said.

In fact, there are more mental health services than before because there are more medical assessment teams that deal with drug and alcohol abuse, he said.

“There are no cuts on the horizon at the moment.”

Graves said the Chillicothe VA center also has six community outreach clinics, which they refer to as “CBOCS,” that also are remaining open.