VA Restructuring

[Shortdawg]

What a time to Downsize!

Vietnam Veterans of America - May 6
(press release provided courtesy of the associated press)

Posted on Thu, May. 06, 2004

VA to close three hospitals, build two

SUZANNE GAMBOA

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The Veterans Affairs Department will close three hospitals
in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Mississippi and build two new ones in Nevada
and Florida as part of much-anticipated restructuring plan, The
Associated Press has learned.

The agency also will add or remove medical services at dozens of other
facilities.

VA Secretary Anthony Principi backed off plans to transfer major
operations out of the Waco, Texas, hospital to VA facilities in Temple
and Austin.

"There is no doubt that the hard work of the Waco community has made a
positive difference for the Waco VA, and I am honored to work alongside
them," U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said in a statement.

The move had been heavily opposed in Waco. He said more study and
financial information was needed before a decision is made.

Principi also has endorsed building 156 community-based outpatient
clinics by 2012, with an emphasis on serving rural areas. Local VA
officials had sought 270 clinics.

Principi was to release the plan Friday in Las Vegas. Several
congressional officials who had seen it described the contents to the
AP in advance.

The department undertook the restructuring two years ago to shift
services to areas where veteran populations are increasing and to
modernize outdated buildings and shed vacant space.

Under the plan, the VA expects to reduce costs for maintaining vacant
space from $3.4 billion to $750 million by 2022 but projects spending
$6 billion on new construction during that time.

A draft plan last summer that recommended closing seven hospitals drew
opposition from local officials and veterans in those communities. An
independent commission examined that plan and narrowed the list of
closures.

After reviewing the commission recommendations, Principi decided to
close three hospitals, in Pittsburgh; Brecksville, Ohio, and Gulfport,
Miss. The hospitals must have a plan for closure by September. It was
not immediately clear when they will shut their doors.

A fourth hospital, in Livermore, Calif., will have all its services
except long-term care transferred elsewhere. However, a new VA nursing
home will be established there.

The VA plans to continue studying ways to cut costs. Representatives
from veterans groups who met with Principi on Thursday were told the
agency would not close or eliminate services at any other locations
before new or replacement services are available elsewhere in the area.

The department will build new hospitals in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.
The VA also wants to build new rehabilitation centers for the blind in
Biloxi, Miss., and Long Beach, Calif., and place new spinal cord
centers in Denver, Minneapolis, Syracuse or Albany, N.Y., and Little
Rock, Ark.

In Texas, acute care services will be closed at Kerrville as soon as
the VA contracts for care through a community contract or space is
available in San Antonio. The VA will move the Brownsville
community-based clinic to Harlingen.

The agency will continue studying whether to close the Big Spring
hospital and determine what kind of facility should be built in the
Odessa-Midland area.

Among the VA facilities that will lose services is the hospital in
Canandaigua, N.Y. It had been on the list to be closed, but Principi
decided instead to transfer inpatient psychiatric beds to Buffalo or
Syracuse and ordered officials to come up with a plan for making the
campus more efficient. The hospital has nearly 1,000 beds but only 166
patients on average.

Congress will review Principi's decision. It cannot change the plan but
does have authority to determine whether to fund the changes. Congress
had been unwilling to approve money for construction until the
department came up with a restructuring plan.

There are an about 25 million veterans in the country, with more than 7
million enrolled in VA health care.