WASHINGTON :
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has announced the signing of a lease that will permit the dramatic expansion of services by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Cleveland Veterans.

Through community partnerships and innovative business practices, we will provide more Veteran-focused services,
ensuring Ohio Veterans have access to 21st century care, said Secretary Shinseki.

The agreement, which creates nearly 24,000 new construction and permanent jobs,
calls for VA to lease its Brecksville campus to Veterans Development LLC.
The facility will be used for medical research, offices and higher education.

In exchange for the lease,
VA will receive the use of 115,000 square feet of office space, 2,000 parking spaces and
122 housing units for homeless Veterans all adjacent to VA Wade Park campus.

Savings from the transaction will be used to fund a new blind rehabilitation center,
a comprehensive rehabilitation center, a spinal cord injury nursing home,
expanded poly-trauma services and an outpatient clinic in Parma, Ohio.

The consolidation stems from a comprehensive VA plan, announced on May 7, 2004,
to modernize and improve its health care system.
That process was called CARES, for Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services.

Last year, VA spent more than $4.1 billion in Ohio on behalf of the state 960,000 Veterans.
In addition to the two facilities affected by todays announcement,
VA operates major medical centers in Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton,
plus about 30 outpatient clinics, five Vet Centers and two national cemeteries in Ohio.