VA Announces Changes for Kansas Facilities

WASHINGTON – A new community clinic in Hutchinson, realignment of services between Kansas City, Topeka and Leavenworth and expansion of telemedicine in Kansas are part of a comprehensive plan by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modernize its nationwide system of health care facilities.

“These changes will provide greater access to care for veterans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi. “By strengthening our network of outpatient clinics, we will bring a greater quality of care closer to where most of Kansas’ veterans live.” 

About 62,000 of Kansas’ 257,000 veterans were treated last year in VA’s health care facilities, up from 43,000 in 2000.

Secretary Principi noted that about 80 percent of the health care provided by VA is outpatient care.  He said the plan would allow the department to provide more of the outpatient care veterans want and use, while building upon VA’s expertise in providing highly specialized inpatient care.

The changes are part of a comprehensive plan called CARES, short for “Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services.” The secretary’s CARES report can be viewed in its entirety on VA’s Web site at http://www.va.gov/CARES.

Briefly the secretary’s announcement included these plans for Kansas:

• Improve access to care with a new community clinic in Hutchinson;
• Realign and consolidate services between Kansas City, Topeka and Leavenworth
• Leavenworth and Topeka, realigning intensive substance abuse treatment programs and referring complex surgical procedures to Kansas City; 
• Expand the current tele-video, tele-medicine and tele-imaging programs in Kansas to meet the demand for service, especially in the more rural and medically underserved areas of the state; 
• Improve resource use at Leavenworth through enhanced use leasing to renovate vacant buildings and develop an assisted living facility for local veterans; and
• Provide land for expansion of the Leavenworth National Cemetery.

CARES is a plan to modernize and improve VA’s health care system.  Among the elements of the Secretary’s CARES decision are more than 150 new community based outpatient clinics, potential creation of four new – and expansion of five existing – spinal cord injury centers, two new blind rehabilitation centers, and expansions throughout VA’s healthcare system that will enhance veterans’ access to VA care.

In July 1999, a General Accounting Office study found that VA was diverting a million dollars a day – or $3.6 billion during a decade – from veterans’ health care to maintenance on unneeded or unused facilities. The average age of VA’s more than 4,900 buildings is more than 50 years, and the need to reduce vacant space and unneeded buildings has been the focus of several reports by the General Accounting Office.  

In Leavenworth, there are more than 568,000 square feet of unused space out of a total of more about 1.3 million.  Of the 568,000 square feet of unused space, 566,688 square feet (38 buildings) will be leased to a developer under the Enhanced Use Lease authority. 

This approach to facilities management means the dollars once wasted on old and vacant buildings can be used to enhance health care services for local veterans.

“CARES modernizes VA’s 74-year old health care system,” said Principi. “I want to emphasize that no veteran will lose health care as a result of CARES, nor will there be any gaps in their health care services.” 

The CARES plan was reviewed by an independent commission, which received more than 212,000 comments and held 81 site visits to VA and Department of Defense medical facilities, and State Veterans Homes, 38 public hearings and 10 formal meetings.  The commission submitted its recommendations to Secretary Principi in mid-February. 

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