Building better VA service, New clinic symbolizes renewed focus on care, VA officials say

UNIVERSITY AREA OUTPATIENT FACILITY FOR VETERANS
Building better VA service
New clinic symbolizes renewed focus on care, VA officials say
STELLA M. HOPKINS
shopkins@charlotteobserver.com
The nation's new VA Secretary acknowledged medical care problems, but said the agency is improving and praised Charlotte's new veterans clinic during a visit Thursday.

The University area outpatient clinic includes a lab, pharmacy and radiology services and is intended to better coordinate medical and mental health care. The brick building, brightly lit with skylights, can handle more than 19,000 patients a year. That's about four times the capacity of the cramped, nearby clinic it will replace. The clinic is due to open this summer, serving one of the fastest growing veterans' populations.

"It says we're looking in the right direction," said James Peake, the former Army Surgeon General sworn in as VA Secretary three months ago. "If we need to, we're prepared to expand this clinic."

The clinic was built to accommodate a second floor, and potential expansion was a frequent topic among those touring, including U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, an N.C. Republican, and top staff from the Salisbury VA hospital.

Peake's predecessor resigned abruptly last summer as the agency strained to handle surging demand for care. Especially at issue was mental health treatment for recent veterans and medical care problems, including Observer reports of patient deaths at the VA hospitals in Salisbury and Asheville.

"We recognize we've had some issues," Peake said during the get-acquainted visit. "We're very aggressively sorting through them."

As an example, Peake cited emphasis on the "24/14" goal of giving veterans with mental health needs an initial screening within 24 hours and a full evaluation within 14 days.

Critics have said the agency is overwhelmed by the needs of soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Peake and Burr, the ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, acknowledged the agency faces challenges caring for 5.8 million veterans. Patients range from the elderly to young men and women returning from today's wars. The rising cost of health care and improved VA care also has attracted more patients to the nation's largest healthcare system.

Both Peake and Burr said the VA is up to the task. They pointed to new clinics such as the one in Charlotte as evidence the agency is adding care and bringing it closer to veterans.

This year, the agency expects to open 64 new clinics. Next year's goal is 51, Peake said. He added that next year's budget calls for a 21 percent increase in spending to serve an anticipated 14 percent rise in the number of veterans from current wars.

"We're confident we're ahead of that curve," said Peake, who has been touring facilities since becoming head of the second largest Cabinet department.

He called the new clinic a "delight for me," saying he could visualize patients in the spacious waiting rooms. He complimented the range of treatment areas and noted there's "enough light to see people."

One of Peake's top charges has been to streamline care, a difficult task in a bureaucracy that employs more than 250,000 people. However, he sounded a positive note, saying the goal is to "get them taken care of and do the paperwork later."

Last year, the Observer obtained internal records that showed VA patients were waiting longer for appointments than policy dictated, and that some veterans with critical needs had the longest waits.

Peake said systemwide waiting times have been reduced.

Dr. Jeffrey Kuch, the interim chief of staff at the Salisbury VA hospital, said there is "opportunity for improvement" on access to care. He said hospital management reviews waiting lists at least weekly, sometimes daily, and has changed scheduling to improve efficiency. For example, he said, VA staff now call patients to confirm appointments. If someone can't come, they contact a waiting patient to offer the time slot.

Kuch worked 23 years at a Florida VA hospital before joining Salisbury three weeks ago. He applauded steps to coordinate mental health and medical care. That includes screening for potential suicide, a top concern for the newest veterans.

"The VA is clearly trying to understand its customers a little better," Burr said.

Care at the clinic

The new Charlotte clinic's service area includes Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cabarrus, Union and Lincoln counties. Veterans who live nearby and are currently enrolled at the Salisbury VA hospital get priority at the new clinic. Other veterans who wish to receive care in Charlotte must register. For information, call the eligibility section at 704-638-3344, ext. 3470.
VA Secretary claims "we are ahead of the curve"

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As a veteran with PTSD and having watched the VA mental health care system become overhwlmed in the past 5 years, I have to laugh when I read the words "we are ahead of the curve" excuse me, I went from having monthly appointments in 2003 to very 2 months in 2004 to every 3 months in 2005 to an attempt to every 6 months in 2006, that turned into a disaster and my wife finally got the shrinks to see it was causing me more harm, so we are now back to every 3 months, mostly to adjust meds, nothing more. I remember in 2005 the VA hospital being used mainly to treat active duty troops so they could get them regulated on anti-depressants and mood regulators so they could give them a years worth of meds and redeploy them back to Iraq with a rucksack full of meds, since there are not enough in theater shrinks to prescribe meds, somehow I don't feel doped up soldiers on meds with weapons and other explosive materials are a good mixture, maybe it's just me, but besides putting the mentally ill soldiers at risk, they are endangering all the soldiers in the unit around them, albeit a platoon, squad or company.

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