VA plans 81-bed Las Vegas hospital

[sfc_darrel]

Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal

VA plans 81-bed Las Vegas hospital

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday proposed to build a full-service hospital in Las Vegas, the centerpiece of a major expansion in health services for retired military in Southern Nevada.

Besides an 81-bed hospital, the agency also proposed a 120-bed nursing home for veterans. The VA already is planning a state-of-the-art outpatient clinic to replace the Addeliar Guy Ambulatory Care Center on Vegas Drive.

"What this is saying is that, rather than just replacing the ambulatory care center, because of the projected growth in demand for our services, the time has come to seriously look at putting everything on one campus and having a separate, stand-alone medical center," said John Hempel, director of the VA's health care system in Southern Nevada.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said in a statement the VA's plan amounts to "a major breakthrough in health services for Southern Nevada's veterans."

The Las Vegas upgrade is part of a VA restructuring that focuses new projects on fast-growing areas while eliminating underused facilities.

Under the proposal, Orlando, Fla., also gets a hospital, while centers to treat blindness would be built in Biloxi, Miss., and Long Beach, Calif. Denver, Minneapolis, Albany or Syracuse, N.Y., and Little Rock, Ark., would gain special centers for spinal cord injuries.

But the plan, outlined in a 100-page report, also calls for hospital closings in seven cities. And that is drawing opposition from some members of Congress.

The VA proposal now goes before a 15-member commission, whose members were appointed by Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi. The panel plans three months of review and hearings, including a session scheduled for Sept. 26 at the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas in Henderson.

Principi is expected to make a final decision on the entire package before the end of the year. It would form the base of the VA's capital expense plans for the coming years.

"This is a very exciting time for veterans," Hempel said. "The need for more veterans care in Southern Nevada is long overdue."

Hempel said he was hopeful a medical complex could take shape in three to five years. Cost estimates were not immediately available. Congress would need to approve funding, agency officials said.

The VA proposal said plans for Nevada "must consider the phenomenal growth occurring in Clark County and Las Vegas."

By 2012, the number of hospital beds needed to serve the region's veterans are projected to increase by 56 percent. Clinic visits are expected to grow by 65 percent, to about 684,000 annually, Hempel said.

The VA last year sent 1,500 Nevada veterans to facilities in Southern California for consultations that couldn't be provided in Las Vegas. By adding specialists locally, the VA hopes to cut California referrals in half this year, Hempel said.

Once new facilities are opened, only several hundred Nevadans needing the most specialized care, such as organ transplants, would need to travel to VA hospitals in Loma Linda or Long Beach, Calif., he said.

The VA already has been seeking a 30-acre parcel for a Las Vegas outpatient clinic, focusing on several undisclosed sites. Hempel said the agency would need to revise its search to add another 10 to 20 acres if a hospital and nursing home are added to the mix.

Early drafts of the VA's plan called for adding capacity to the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base, where the VA has access to 52 of 94 beds.

But Hempel said the VA and the Air Force concluded the construction required to meet projected needs at Nellis, when added to the clinic plan already in the works and needs for a nursing home, made that unfeasible.

Members of Southern Nevada veterans groups said they would wait to see whether the proposal results in the opening a new hospital in the Las Vegas Valley.

"It's long overdue. ... I'm tickled to hear that," said Chad Avery, a lifetime member of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 17.

"Definitely, we need a VA hospital here. A full-blown hospital. The problem is it's going to take two or three years, especially the way Congress acts," Avery said.

He noted that 250,000 veterans live in Southern Nevada, yet health care facilities for veterans are spread among clinics across the valley.

According to Hempel, 41,000 veterans in Southern Nevada are enrolled for health care and 38,000 will receive treatment at a VA clinic this year.

Air Force retiree Dan Mahoney, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10047 in North Las Vegas, expressed skepticism.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said.

With veterans services and facilities scattered across two dozen locations in the valley, "it's hell to get to an appointment," Mahoney said. "We're really disgusted with the way it is now."

Principi previewed the recommendation on Thursday in a telephone call with Nevada members of Congress, who had been pressing the VA to address Southern Nevada's medical needs.

"The veterans of Nevada deserve this, and they need it," Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said through a spokeswoman.

"The senator was thrilled with the preliminary indications he got," said Jack Finn, spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. "It seems our message had gotten through."

"We were hopeful this is what the VA would decide," said Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Rep. Dennis More, D-Kan., already had introduced bills seeking to block VA hospital closings.

The VA reorganization seeks to close hospitals in Canandaigua, N.Y.; Pittsburgh; Lexington, Ky.; Brecksville, Ohio; Gulfport, Miss.; Livermore, Calif.; and Waco, Texas.


The Associated Press and Review-Journal writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report

Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../21878065.html

[Gimpy]

Not the way THIS congress operates! If they can't see fit to approve the $1.8 billion they REMOVED from THIS years budget----I sure as hell don't see them approving funding to start construction on a new hospital---ANYWHERE!

[Boats]

Well that's nice it's alway good to hear of a new VA center. Now it's just going to be a little problem for those who are 150 miles or more away to get there.

I would propose that each hospital set aside 20 to 40 beds for veterans whose care is immediate. The government can compensate them when care is given. Why go through so much red tape when the care centers are in every city.

It would make life a lot easier for those vets who may or may not have any transportation or means of making a long distance trip. I always think of that movie Article 99 (I have a copy) I loan it out to others who ask to see it. It's a system thing the movie just amplifies it a bit more dramatically. But I do bet there have been some severly compromised by the system when care was really needed.

[SEATJERKER]

...just as well, and good that they are considering building a new hospital in "lost wages", it is real bad that they are considering closing the "middle distance" hospitals up here,..

..between Syracuse, and Albany is 300 miles, and at any point, a Veteran might have to travel anywhere up to 75 miles now, by closing Cananduigua, it will add hardship to those already on the outskirts, now it will be a 150 mile round trip, not right, and I'm sure there will be others fighting the closings with furor...

...If the politico's would just approve the proper allocation of spending rather then fund some tree hugging, and /or "research project " on why pigs don't fly, the Vet's might just come close to being treated fair............