As the politicians in DC continue their August recess, we find Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki joining U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka, chairmen of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs, joint headlining a meeting at the Kaua'i Veterans Center in Hawaii. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the building of a new facility near the existing Kapule Highway complex be considered by the VA.

A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs clarified Friday evening that the Veterans’ Council, a conglomerate of various nonprofit Veterans Service Organizations, failed to meet an application deadline, but Shinseki on Thursday declined to rule out the possibility of a partnership, telling prominent Kaua‘i veteran William Honjiyo that plans should be put in place and funding secured before the VA would consider a lease.

The construction of a new CBOC could fit into a new philosophy, outlined by Shinseki Thursday, that would move his department away from big, centrally located brick-and-mortar hospitals and spread the VA’s presence wider to cover rural communities like Kaua‘i through the use of tele-health and tele-medicine for minor or routine medical procedures.

While Senators Akaka and Daniel Inouye are still quite capable  politicians, I do think it's important that the local Democrats start looking for potential candidates to succeed either one of them. I've heard before that the Hawaii Democratic party had approach Shinseki, prior to his appointment as a Cabinet Secretary to run for office, perhaps he's getting the feel of things.