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REPUBLICAN
PRESS RELEASE
July 13, 2007
Veterans’ field hearing shows need for south Louisiana health care
planning
For more information, contact: Jeff Phillips (202) 225-3527
Washington, D.C. — A July 9 House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs field
hearing considered the future of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
health care in South Louisiana.
Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, there is still not a clear
plan on how veterans’ inpatient health care needs will be addressed in
the region. Inpatient services are provided through a sharing agreement
with Tulane, and other VA facilities in the region. Currently, VA has
six outpatient clinics providing primary care, mental health services,
and outpatient pharmacy capabilities.
One proposal discussed was a collaborative opportunity with Louisiana
State University (LSU), on adjacent property in a newly established
medical district that would be located near the Tulane and LSU medical
schools, close to the old hospital site. Testimony expressed the state’s
commitment to development of a new medical center and funding for the
project, which would include land acquisition for the VA site.
The cost for the LSU facility has doubled since discussions began, and
committee members expressed concern over the ability of the state and
city to acquire the land needed for the new collaborative facility site
in a timely manner, as well as the safety of the proposed site and the
financial assumptions behind the plan.
“Veterans in Southeast Louisiana deserve timely access to health care
just as veterans throughout the rest of the nation do. That is never in
question,” said Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), ranking member of the committee’s
Subcommittee on Health. “However, I question the proposed joint venture,
and the significant amount of time that has lapsed with little progress
makes me question that plan even more. Taxpayers and veterans can be
better served if VA would consider a more fiscally responsible approach
and locate the new facility where it would not be subject to a repeat of
what happened to the old hospital.”
Another option discussed at the hearing was for VA to relocate to a site
in Jefferson Parish adjacent to Ochsner Medical Center, a private
hospital system in Southeast Louisiana. The land available for VA is
currently owned by Ochsner, and is not below sea level. Ochsner did not
have to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina.
“We learned that the construction time for any site would be roughly the
same, so the key factor, in my mind, must be to judge the respective
period it would take to get to construction,” said Richard Baker
(R-La.). “Local officials claim they can expropriate the land for the
New Orleans site, by their own admission taking out of the housing
market much needed rental property, in 18 months. That's already 18
months longer than the alternative site, which lies just 4.5 miles away,
not below sea level, and has land ready on day one. But anyone who knows
about the Byzantine legal procedures of land acquisition in Louisiana
also knows that 18 months is overly optimistic. It will certainly take
longer.”
“On the other hand,” Baker continued, “we learned that at the
alternative site there is but a single land owner already willing to
sell, a private health care provider also willing to partner with the VA
to bring added advantages to our veterans. What we heard from
Louisiana's veterans is that they demand and deserve a new high-quality
health care facility as quickly as possible, and I would urge the VA
secretary to make that the number-one factor, and to strongly consider
the advantages of the alternative site when determining how to meet our
veterans’ needs.”
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Larry Scott
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