New director of VA Butler Healthcare David Cord answers questions during a public meeting Monday at the facility's main building.

BUTLER TWP — VA Butler Healthcare’s new director, David Cord, held the first of what he said would be frequent public meetings on Monday night.

The event drew fewer than a dozen people, but Cord said he would keep reaching out to the public and veteran service organizations as he builds a plan for the future of a system that serves about 19,000 veterans in four counties.

“It won’t really be my game plan,” Cord said, responding to a question about what he intends to use his time as director for. “My plan is to talk to you, hear what you need, and move forward from there.”

That’s not to say the new director — Monday was Cord’s first day officially on the job — is without ideas.

Cord said he wants to start holding quarterly update meetings on the system’s construction project to keep the public and veterans in the loop.

He said a joint meeting being planned with the office of Congressman Mike Kelly, R-3rd, would come sometime in December or January, with the regular, quarterly meetings following it. Cord said he plans to review plans for the project, which will construct a new 168,000-square-foot health center on North Duffy Road, next week and meet with developer Cambridge Healthcare Solutions no later than next week.

Cambridge has 31 months to complete construction on the facility, which is currently expected to open near the end of 2017.

Before that happens, Cord said he wants to figure out what to do with Building 1, the current VA care center, and sort out other issues veterans and their advocates broached with him Monday night.

One burning question both veterans and VA employees have is what Cord plans to do with the current auditorium, which is in need of about $600,000 in repairs.

Cord said he’d like to see the space restored and usable again, but the question is impossible to answer conclusively before the system knows what its operating budget will be for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

As of Monday, seven weeks into that fiscal year, Cord said VA officials still don’t know the answer to that question. “It’s unusual to be at this point and not know, but that’s where we’re at,” Cord said.

Veterans’ concerns also touched on transportation and homeless outreach Monday night, with Carl Curtis, the commander of the American Legion’s 26th District, saying veterans often can’t find rides to Butler’s facility or to medical appointments in Pittsburgh.

“Transportation is defunct here (in Beaver County),” Curtis said. “There’s hardly any trips anywhere.”

Mary M. Hambley, a VA representative for the American Legion Auxiliary, said she’s also concerned about services for homeless veterans as colder weather sets in.

Hambley said advocates often struggle to find places for veterans who “just show up,” at the VA looking for shelter.

Cord said the public meetings go hand-in-hand with open office hours he intends to hold from noon to 1:30 p.m. on most Fridays. He said those hours would be open to anyone, including members of the public, veterans and VA employees.

He promised to be a straightforward and consistent leader at the health system, and he reiterated that he could see himself staying in the position “for many years.”

Cord, 51, a former U.S. Navy JAG lawyer and longtime VA employee, said he plans to work 10 more years.

“I can see myself working the majority, if not all, of it here,” Cord said. “I can see myself working here for many more years.”