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PRIVATIZING THE VA IN THE S.F. BAY AREA -- On February 11,

the Alameda Hospital will begin treating veterans as part

of a tentative agreement reached with the VA.

At this time, the VA spends 20% of its healthcare dollars on outsourced services...and that number keeps growing.

Should veterans be worried?  Just ask all the retirees who used to get their healthcare at military hospitals but are now stuck in a civilian HMO.

Every time the VA signs a contract like this, we get closer and closer to a privatized VA.

For more about privatizing the VA, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch
.php?q=privatize+privatizing&op=or

Story here... http://www.mercuryne
ws.com/alamedacounty/ci_7828133?nclick_check=1

Story below:

-------------------------

Alameda hospital to treat veterans

Board of directors expect to finalize deal with Department of Veterans Affairs in January

By Alan Lopez
STAFF WRITER

On Feb. 11, the Alameda Hospital will begin treating war veterans as part of a tentative agreement reached with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Alameda Health Care District Board of Directors is expected to authorize the agreement in January, though a verbal agreement between the two organizations was reached Thursday.

Board member Jordan Battani called the contract a "win-win" for the hospital and the VA because it will result in additional revenue for the struggling hospital and needed medical services for area veterans.

East Bay veterans are traveling to Fairfield for inpatient care when the VA facilities in San Francisco and Palo Alto are at capacity.

"(The VA) is looking for capacity in lots of places," she said. "Their infrastructure is not keeping up with the demands with the conflict in Iraq. ... The issues for them are particularly acute in the East Bay because many hospitals have a capacity problem."

The hospital and the VA have been in talks for a partnership that would result in a permanent new facility serving civilians as well as veterans at Alameda Point. Those talks are ongoing, said Deborah Stebbins, the hospital's chief executive officer.

Under the current agreement, the hospital would provide in-patient services for veterans -- primarily from Alameda, Berkeley, Castro Valley and San Leandro -- until Dec. 31, 2008, with four separate one-year options.

The hospital is expected to see 84 patients a year, while earning about $9,000 per patient for annual revenue of about $756,000.

The numbers are tentative and will be based on the actual number of patients seeking care as well as a discount the hospital will provide, said Joel Burgess, a planner with the VA.

"These are Medicare rates," he said. "That part is set. It's just a matter of what is the illness or injury and what is the discount they're providing."

Burgess declined to comment on the discount, though Stebbins said it was 5 percent.

The hospital has been looking at ways of increasing its patient load and decreasing its annual budget deficits, which came to $2.7 million, ending the last fiscal year. The hospital is subsidized by about $6 million in property taxes.

Battani said diversifying its customer base has been one way for the hospital to increase its revenues. The hospital already has a contract with Kaiser Hospital for their eye surgeons to use the hospital's facilities.

"From a strategic perspective, it makes sense for us to have many organizations so we don't become too dependent on any one for volume," said Battani, a chief operating officer for the Health Plan of San Joaquin HMO. "That's why I'm particularly excited about this one. It's absolutely a step in the right direction."

Battani added that the contract would include a provision giving Alameda residents priority over other patients.

"I think it's a great opportunity for the Alameda Hospital to reinitiate a relationship, a formalized relationship with the veterans administration and serve people who served in the military," Stebbins said. "I think it's a nice tradition with Alameda's historic connection with the military."

Reach Alan Lopez at 510-748-1659 or e-mail alopez1@bayareanewsgroup.com. 

-------------------------

Larry Scott  --

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