CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., continues to raise concerns about proposed recommendations impacting veterans health care services.
The senator on Monday held a listening session with West Virginia veterans and leaders regarding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ recommendations to its Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission. The agency released a related report in March ahead of the AIR Commission starting public hearings.
Federal lawmakers approved the formation of the AIR Commission in 2018 as part of the VA MISSION Act; the commission is responsible for reviewing the nation’s Veterans Affairs medical facilities and suggesting actions to modernize services as well as improve efficiency. According to the department, the average hospital is 58 years old, in which many projects stem from demands following World War II.
“The AIR Commission is supposed to modernize the VA, and so far, what we have been able to find is that it’s just unfairly targeted rural areas because of population,” Manchin said from Charleston. “Not because of the amount of service or the amount of the concentration of service, but just population.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports the facilities in its Huntington, Beckley and Clarksburg markets had a combined 72,327 enrollees in fiscal year 2017 with each area expected to have fewer patients in future years. Officials estimate enrollees in the Huntington market will decrease by 12% by fiscal year 2027, while enrollees in the Beckley and Clarksburg markets could decline by 11.8% and 9.6% during this same period.
The agency has proposed changes that would affect services at the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center in Huntington, the Beckley VA Medical Center in Beckley and the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. Recommendations include discontinuing some services and forming relationships with health care partners to provide care; converting the emergency departments at the Huntington and Clarksburg facilities to urgent care centers; and establishing, relocating and closing outpatient care clinics to reduce travel times for patients. A new residential rehabilitation treatment program facility would be built in Charleston.
Officials additionally recommend a new replacement facility for the Beckley VA Medical Center, which would provide primary care, outpatient mental health and non-surgical outpatient services. The current facility opened in 1950, and renovations to the main hospital building happened in 2002.
“The aging infrastructure of the VAMC suggests the need for modernization to support ongoing Veteran care and clinical services,” officials noted.
The agency reported the costs of inaction compared to recommended steps. The cost of recommended changes in the Huntington market would be $7.2 million compared to the status quo cost of $7.5 million; the recommendation cost in the Beckley market would be $3.42 million compared to $3.39 million; and the recommendation cost in the Clarksburg area would be $5 million rather than $4.8 million with no changes.
Retired Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, who leads West Virginia’s coronavirus task force, described the proposed changes as “an absolute disservice to our veterans.”
“I don’t think people at the national level understand how important our veterans hospitals and their staff are as part of our state emergency response to care for our veterans,” he said. “To lose that capacity would really be a detriment to our veterans and to our state response as a whole, and that’s an area they are not considering and quantifying.”
State Veterans Assistance Secretary Ted Diaz agreed with Hoyer. He added reducing services would pose a risk to West Virginia veterans.
“Those facilities provide access to care to West Virginia’s rural population of veterans,” he said. “The reason we have so many is because we are a rural, mountainous state. As the crow flies, it may not be very far to go to these facilities, but if you’re out in the hollers … these facilities are a lifeline.”
Manchin, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and other senators sent a letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month; the lawmakers requested reviews regarding how the recommendations would affect veterans across the country.
“The recommendations are overly focused on quantitative data that does not do enough to consider the impact the proposed changes would have on our Veterans, particularly elderly Veterans,” the legislators wrote. “We request that when you receive the final recommendations from the AIR Commission you consult our offices on a state by state basis for our feedback before you decide to approve or deny them.”
Manchin promised the roundtable participants about future forums on the recommendations. After the AIR Commission completes public hearings on the proposed changes, it has until Jan. 31, 2023 to submit its report to the Biden administration.