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VA RETHINKS SHIFTING OF BEDFORD SERVICES -- "We will

be doing a full analysis of the Bedford-Brockton option, and

holding a public meeting so we can get feedback."

For more about consolidation at the Bedford and Brockton VA facilities, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=bedford+brockton&op=and

Story here... http://www.boston.com/news/loc
al/articles/2007/12/23/va_rethinks_shifting_of_bedford_services/

Story below:

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VA rethinks shifting of Bedford services

By Emily Sweeney
Globe Staff

The US Department of Veterans Affairs plans to reexamine a proposal to shift some services from the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford to the VA campus in Brockton.

The proposal was put forth in September by Jim Nicholson, former secretary of Veterans Affairs, less than two weeks before he stepped down from the post. A decision was expected as early as October, but now it will take much longer.

"We didn't have time to do a full analysis," said Jay Halpern, special assistant to the VA secretary. "We will be doing a full analysis of [the Bedford-Brockton] option, and holding a public meeting so we can get feedback."

The plan to shift services from Bedford to Brockton is the latest in a series of controversial proposals to restructure the VA Boston Healthcare System. VA officials have been looking at ways they can consolidate services provided at the region's four VA medical centers in Brockton, Bedford, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury.

Halpern said the VA will hire an outside consultant to conduct the new study, and estimated that it will be "well into 2008" before a decision is reached.

The delay came at the request of US Representative John F. Tierney. He urged the VA to conduct a more comprehensive study on Nicholson's recommendation, because it was unveiled late in the process. Other options had been under consideration for months, and in some cases years.

Tierney - like others in the state's congressional delegation, as well as veterans' groups - favors keeping all four existing VA centers open. He said acting VA Secretary Gordon Mansfield recently indicated to him that the administration would rethink how to proceed.

"They're planning to analyze thoroughly the other option and listen to our concerns," Tierney said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

The move will buy some time before the VA determines the fate of its medical facilities. The future of the area's VA campuses has been up in the air since 2003, when the VA launched a nationwide effort to upgrade and streamline its medical facilities and clinics.

That initiative, known as Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, or CARES, focused on 18 sites across the country, the VA Boston Healthcare System being one of them. As part of the process, the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was awarded a $10.5 million contract to conduct studies of the VA facilities and find ways to consolidate services and identify properties that could be leased and redeveloped.

While studying VA facilities in Massachusetts, PricewaterhouseCoopers came up with several potential scenarios. Three of those options involve closing the Bedford campus entirely and moving all services to Brockton. Under those plans, VA facilities in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury also may be consolidated. (Each option is outlined in detail on the US Department of Veterans Affairs CARES webite: va.gov/cares.)

Under the latest proposal suggested by Nicholson, only portions of the 180-acre VA campus in Bedford would be closed, and vacant space would be leased to private developers who would construct retirement homes and assisted-living communities. VA medical services at the Bedford campus would be limited to outpatient services and nursing-home beds. Its Alzheimer's and geriatric research centers would also remain intact.

Psychiatric and mental health services would be relocated to the Brockton VA campus. Two new buildings and a parking garage would be constructed at the Brockton VA campus to accommodate these additional programs.

Yet another option would be for all four VA medical centers to stay open.

Tierney said he had concerns that shifting programs around could result in a loss of VA staff, which would be detrimental to veterans.

"We feel it's important that the geriatric unit [in Bedford] and other units stay open," said Tierney.

"Our concern is that veterans should get the best care in the most convenient location for them and their families. We have no problems with modernizing the facilities . . . but it can't be done at the expense of veterans and their families."

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.

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Larry Scott  --

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