
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993                   TAG: 9312230163
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VA HOSPITAL RECEIVES GRANT FOR PRIMARY CARE

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem has received a half-million-dollar grant under a Department of Veterans Affairs program designed to address the Clinton administration's emphasis on primary care as part of national health-care reform.

Dr. Rajiv Jain, chief of staff, said that the nearly $500,000 grant comes from funding set aside by the department for its Primary Care Education, or PRIME, program.

PRIME provides interdisciplinary training for medical residents and health students.

"The purpose of the program is to increase the number of health-care workers who obtain some clinical experience in a primary-care setting," said Lisa Respass, a VA spokeswoman. "It's all part of the health-care reform plan."

Clinton has encouraged more training of primary-care physicians - doctors who take care of basic health needs - and other primary-care professionals.

The Salem medical center's grant - to be disbursed over the next four years - will provide funding for 10 medical residents and 21 new trainee positions, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacy residents.

"There has been recognition on the part of experts that we need more primary-care physicians as well as other health trainees, nurses and social workers who are specially trained in providing primary care," Jain said.

"The VA started this initiative to fund these projects within the system to help the training of professionals in this area."

Seventy of the VA's 171 medical centers applied for PRIME funding. Forty-nine of them were approved for funding, Respass said.

Under national health-care reform, the VA system would open its hospitals to all veterans, instead of primarily those with service-related disabilities or those who are poor.

That would put the VA in direct competition with private hospitals and doctors who also would be courting the nation's 27 million veterans.

by CNB