Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990 TAG: 9003310133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Powell, national executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, came to Salem Friday to drive home the message that the lack of funding and inadequate staffing are hurting patient care at the nation's 172 VA hospitals, including the one in Salem.
Powell addressed a crowd of about 50 VA employees and representatives from veterans organizations at a rally sponsored by the center's 600-member union, Local 1739 of the American Federation of Government Employees. Many carried placards emblazoned with large black letters that proclaimed "Budget Cuts Unfair!" and "American Veterans Are Being Denied Adequate Treatment."
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, Powell said.
An independent budget developed by four veterans organizations concludes that the system needs a minimum of $13.4 billion to maintain the current veterans health care system.
Funding at the Salem VA center "is short more than $1 million in 1990," Powell said. "What that translates into are not just dollars, but people who don't get quality medical care."
By October, the number of employees at the Salem medical center is expected to drop to 1,360. Four years ago, the center employed 1,576 workers, a loss of nearly 300 jobs for the Roanoke Valley.
Patricia Clark, the center's public affairs officer, said it has never had layoffs, but has reduced its staff through attrition.
"We've consolidated beds and taken staff off those units," Clark said. "Those staff have moved to other vacancies."
A 44-bed building was closed this month and there are plans to close more between now and October, according to a fact sheet compiled by the union and distributed at the rally.
The $50 million construction project at the center is designed to consolidate acute medical and surgical beds into one building. When completed in early 1992, the new facility will have 269 beds.
In addition, construction of the state's first veterans' nursing home - estimated to cost $18.1 million - will begin in late 1990 on a 17-acre site next to the Salem VA center.
Asked why funds earmarked for construction can't be transferred to other areas, Clark said the money is appropriated by Congress and "frozen" by Congress.
"If we wanted to use that for new programs, we couldn't do it," Clark said. "It's not a local decision. We have no control."
In its mission statement, the VA guarantees "care for him who hath borne the battle . . . his widow and his child," Powell said. "But the system does exactly the opposite. They say the money isn't there. It's a system designed by Alice. When you look at it, things become curiouser and curiouser."
by CNB