As chairman of the VA committee, Bost visits a lot of VA facilities nationwide. For him, Dayton stands apart.
“What you have here in Dayton is an excellent VA,” Bost said during a press conference at the campus’ grotto area, which is marking 10 years since volunteers transformed the site into a garden area. “It is already moving forward to make sure that it provides quality care for our veterans, which they have earned and they deserve.”
The Dayton VA campus, southwest of Third Street and Gettysburg Avenue, is one of the three first VA hospitals in the United States. The West Dayton campus has been caring for veterans since 1867.
“When I look around this park here,” Bost added, referring to the garden setting in which he spoke, “you don’t get this in every community. You don’t get the compassion that they have here.”
“We have incredible quality care here,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who hosted Bost. “The community works diligently with the VA, and they have great support throughout the community.”
Bost was introduced to Dayton’s plans for a VA history center — the Dayton campus will act as custodian of historical VA records and archives — and the local campus’ use of what the federal government calls “Enhanced Use Leases” or “EULs,” which are leases with private and public partners to make use of campus properties. St. Mary Development and Miami Valley Fair Housing offer examples of that, offering income-controlled housing on the VA campus.
In 2021, the Dayton VA campus had 2,576 employees who served 40,254 veterans. In late July, the local VA system was approaching the screening of its 25,000th veteran for PACT Act benefits.
The supply of veterans who need care will not decrease, Bost predicted. “We have years and years and years of veterans services that will still have to be provided. Dayton is a light shining on what services they are providing.”
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