Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990 TAG: 9003300543
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES HITE MEDICAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Despite a $50 million construction project under way, "everything is not booming, and everything is not rosy" at the Salem VA hospital, says Bob Fetzer, vice president of the center's 600-member union.
By October, the number of employees at the hospital is expected to drop to 1,360. Four years ago, the hospital employed 1,576 workers. That is a loss of more than 200 jobs for the Roanoke Valley in a relatively short period, Fetzer said.
"Morale is at an all-time low," he said.
A 44-bed building was closed this month and there are plans to close two more, with a total of 80 to 100 more beds, by October, Fetzer said. In November 1988, 70 beds were closed, he said.
"There's a real gradual downsizing of the facility occurring," Fetzer said. That means the hospital will serve fewer patients, he added.
Hospital officials acknowledge that an austere budget has resulted in cost-cutting measures, but they adamantly deny that patient care is inadequate.
"What we are trying to do is provide services to as many veterans as possible while keeping up quality," said Patricia Clark, the medical center's public affairs officer. She said the closing of the two additional buildings Fetzer referred to was being considered but was not definitely in the VA's plans.
The operating budget for the Salem facility this year is $59.6 million, $600,000 more than a year ago. "That hasn't even kept us up with inflation," Clark said.
The closing this month of the 44-bed unit for long-term care patients did not mean that any patients were denied care or that the quality of care would suffer, Clark said. The move was simply a consolidation of resources, much the same that occurs in private industry, she said.
Patients from the closed unit were moved to other empty beds that could accommodate their needs, Clark said.
Staffing cuts are being accomplished through attrition, not layoffs, Clark said.
Patients who have the highest priority of getting admitted are veterans with a service-related disability who earn less than $17,240 annually, Clark said. About 97 percent of the patients treated at the Salem center have incomes under that level, she said.
Veterans in higher income brackets and veterans whose illnesses are not directly related to military service have a lower priority.
During the past two fiscal years, the average number of beds occupied by patients has dropped. In 1988, the average daily bed census was 594. In 1989, it was 534. For the first five months of fiscal year 1990, the average daily census was 502.
The $50 million construction project at the hospital is designed to consolidate acute medical and surgical beds into one building. When completed in early 1992, the new facility will have 269 beds. The hospital also has 287 psychiatric beds in other buildings. A 100-bed nursing home unit also is operated at the facility.
The $12.3 billion Veterans Affairs health budget proposed by President Bush for the upcoming fiscal year falls $690 million short of what's needed to restore medical care to essential levels of service for veterans, according to Jack Powell, national executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Powell is scheduled to address a rally today being sponsored by the union at the Salem VA, Local 1739 of the American Federation of Government Employees.
The rally is being held to increase public support for additional congressional funding for veterans hospitals. The rally will be at the east entrance gate, near the traffic light on Roanoke Boulevard, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Powell will speak at noon.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on Mar. 31, 1990\ Clarification\ Because of incomplete information given to the newspaper, a story in Friday's editions concerning patient care at the Salem Veteran's Administration hospital may have given the wrong impression about the priority of admitting patients to the hospital. Priorities according to income level apply only to patients without service-related disabilities or illnesses. Patients with disabilities or illnesses related to military service are exempt from income criteria.
Memo: Correction