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SAN ANTONIO Area VA facilities expect to dodge closure By Bonnie Pfister and Cindy
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Web Posted : 06/07/2002 12:00 AM South Texas veterans likely will retain access to subsidized medical care as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reorganizes its health system based on national need, VA officials said Thursday. "We've had no indication that anything is going to be closed, changed or realigned," said D. Creager Brown, spokesman for South Texas Veterans Health Care System. "One of the big reasons is because we have virtually no duplication of services in the South Texas area." The South Texas system includes San Antonio's Audie Murphy Veterans Memorial Hospital and Frank M. Tejeda VA Outpatient Clinic, Kerrville Veterans Hospital, and primary-care clinics in Corpus Christi, Victoria, McAllen and Laredo. There are about 300,000 veterans in the region, but just 56,000 enrolled in the VA health care system, Brown said. Of the roughly 400,000 patient visits systemwide in fiscal year 2001, about 225,000 were at San Antonio facilities. If anything, observers say that an objective evaluation of national demographics and demand for VA services in predominantly Hispanic South Texas should bring increased care. Proportionate to their population, more Mexican Americans served in World War II than any other identifiable ethnic group, scholars of Hispanics in the military say. Additionally, population growth is up in Sun Belt states like Texas, and down in some northern cities. The Lower Rio Grande Valley alone was home to 143,000 elderly retirees from 2000-2001. Last year 1,100 Winter Texans availed themselves of services in McAllen, said Roger Roehl, the health system's administrative director. The VA provides subsidized services in South Texas through its four primary care clinics, and by contracting with non-VA facilities in Brownsville, San Benito and Edinburg, Roehl said. The McAllen facility also provides general surgery, radiology, physical therapy, orthopedics, podiatry and psychiatric services. The system is considering collaboration with the new University of Texas Health Science Center's regional facility in Harlingen. Still, about 40 Valley veterans take VA-funded vans to San Antonio every week to access special services only available at Audie Murphy. Free vans also travel twice a week from Laredo, where Webb County Veterans Service Officer Jesus Cantu says service should be more comprehensive. "It's not unusual for aged veterans to have a loss of hearing. But to get a hearing aid, we've got to go all the way to San Antonio," Cantu said. San Antonio is also the only option for those needing to follow up on prostate cancer biopsies or to treat serious stomach ailments, Cantu said. He was hopeful that the VA might consider contracting for specialty services with Laredo hospitals or the UTHSC facility that is scheduled to open in coming months. "It would be a big plus. If they have anything serious, they need to get on a van, go to San Antonio, wait for an appointment, then come all the way back," he said. The VA's move away from hospitalization toward outpatient care and primary care clinics follows a similar initiative in South Texas in the late 1990s. "Every attempt is made to bring health care closer to the veteran and to make it as convenient as possible for them to use our services," said Jose R. Coronado, director of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. In 1999, Hill Country veterans successfully battled the elimination of inpatient care and other service reductions at the Kerrville VA Hospital. Today the facility has 25 beds for acute care and 154 beds for long-term care, officials said. "Our main hospital building is 100 percent occupied," said Walter Schelhase, a retired Army general who is president of the Hill Country Veterans Council. Schelhase said he feels relatively secure about the Kerrville hospital's future based on comments by Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi during a tour there last year. "He said, 'This hospital will not close,'" Schelhase recalled. "But I guess they could come to Kerrville tomorrow and say, 'Close that hospital' if the budget so dictated." bpfister@express-news.net Express-News Staff Writers Zeke MacCormack and John Tedesco contributed to this report. 06/07/2002 |
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