VA'S NORTHWEST DIRECTOR PROMISES OPENNESS ON WALLA WALLA

PROPOSALS -- With no funding requested, veterans fear it may

be years before ground is broken.

Background here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20JUL%2006/newsflash07-14-2006-8.htm

Here's the problem with Nicholson's announcement about the Walla Walla VA facility...

You can't promise what you don't have.  And, the VA does not have a plan, a timeline or the money to do ANYTHING at Walla Walla.

Story here... http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2006/07/14/local_news/local03.txt

Story below:

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VA regional director promises openness

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray presses for details on plans for a proposed clinic here.

By Vicki Hillhouse of the Union-Bulletin

While U.S. Sen. Patty Murray pressed the Veterans Administration on Thursday for details about a proposed outpatient clinic in Walla Walla, a VA official promised openness to the public.

Dennis Lewis, director of the VA Northwest Health Network that includes Walla Walla, said he intends to share any information he gets about the proposed new clinic, which would replace the city's VA hospital.

``There's a whiff of distrust,'' Lewis told about 40 local officials and veterans at Walla Walla's VA hospital on Thursday. Actually, he clarified, it's much stronger than a whiff.

``People have made it very clear,'' he said.

He said he will work closely with the community as plans unfold for the new outpatient facility.

Local government officials and veterans attribute their distrust to a perception of secrecy surrounding the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Under a microscope for at least two years, the facility has been the

subject of study by the VA as it determines how best to serve local veterans. At one point, it was under the threat of closure.
But in a surprise visit last week, VA Secretary James Nicholson announced a new outpatient clinic to replace the Wainwright facility.

Nicholson's brief visit was seemingly good news for veterans whose hospital had been in a state of uncertainty.

But it left many people with more questions than answers. Murray, D-Wash., noted that in a letter to Nicholson sent Thursday.

``Your surprise visit and secrecy-shrouded announcement fell far short of the open, detailed answers (veterans) deserve,'' she wrote. ``Veterans have been rightfully worried about how they will get the health care they need, and your announcement has not eased those worries.''

Nicholson has provided no timeline, cost estimate or details of services that would be provided at the proposed clinic.

Murray's letter to Nicholson asks for more clarity.

``While I appreciate your visit to my home state, your trip has raised new questions about what services will be provided, how they will be paid for and when they will become available,'' she wrote to Nicholson. ``I'm troubled that your announcement appears to eliminate some critical services in the region, and I'm concerned that veterans could be left with another empty promise if you don't provide the funding to deliver on your announcement.''

Murray followed her letter with a media teleconference. Then via another conference call, she joined the meeting of a local task force at the VA, which was attended by Lewis and a swarm of veterans.

Walla Walla's VA serves about 69,000 veterans from a 14-county catchment area. The hospital employs about 350 people with an annual payroll between $18 million and $20 million.

Walla Walla is one of numerous places across the country visited by Nicholson in the last several weeks. In addition to Walla Walla's clinic, Nicholson has announced plans for a new facility in Bellingham, Wash. According to news accounts, vets centers have also been promised in Atlanta and Phoenix. A new hospital is slated in Louisville, Ky., and at least 25 new outpatient clinics from Delaware to Idaho have been added to the VA's list of facilities.

With no funding requested for Walla Walla's proposed clinic, veterans fear it may be years before ground is broken.

If that's the case, Lewis said veterans need not worry about losing services in the meantime. He said a new director is expected to be in place by mid-October. Also an associate director position - which had been eliminated in the 1980s - is expected to be restored. Recruitment also continues for staffing to restore the acute inpatient and after-hours clinic lost in May with the relocation of doctors.

Lewis said other questions that remain will be answered as specifics about the facility are determined. Though a price tag is not known, cost for a new facility averages about $250 per square foot, he said. He said the VA determines which order its projects will be funded each year based on a ranking system.

The VA averages between 120 to 170 projects on its list. If a project is No. 16 and only 15 projects are completed, the remaining projects must go through a new ranking system the next year.

In theory, it could mean some projects continually are pushed back. But Lewis said his goal is to try to work through the system to get the funding Walla Walla needs.

Already he said nearly $6 million has been invested at the Wainwright facility in the last year, for everything from audio equipment to roofing.

``I don't invest that kind of money if I'm going to shut something down completely,'' he said.

Lewis said he envisions the large-scale outpatient clinic for Walla Walla as having diagnostic capability, possibly including capacity for mental-health care.

That, along with other services that would be contracted out or lost in the transition, remains one of Murray's deepest concerns.

In her letter to Nicholson she asked for his attention to the needs of the community and prompt answers to the questions that remain from last week's announcement.

``Mr. Secretary, this community has worked so hard over the years in good faith and even provided you with a detailed proposal for how care should be provided in Walla Walla,'' Murray concluded in her letter. ``They deserve the same from you. I await your answers.''

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Larry Scott

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

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