VA Secretary Visits Area

VA Secretary Visits Area
August 5, 2005

Recently, I hosted Veteran's Affairs Secretary, Jim Nicholson on a tour of the Dayton Veterans' Medical Center (VAMC). Our tour included stops at the Patient Tower, nursing home, Protestant Chapel, Catholic Church, VA campus historic district and the cemetery. We honored all U.S. veterans by placing a wreath at the Soldiers' Monument.

The goal of inviting the Secretary to visit our facilities was to familiarize him with the Dayton VA and showcase the resources in place at the center. The Dayton VAMC is one of our most valuable and treasured community assets. We must protect the high level of services and standards that area veterans have come to expect from the facility.

During Secretary Nicholson's visit to the area we had good discussions about the assets at the VAMC and future plans to make it best serve veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Commenting on his visit to the Dayton VAMC, Secretary Nicholson said, "Growing up as a young man in the Midwest, I know that the men and women in the heartland care deeply about their fellow citizens who are defending our country. The Department of Veterans Affairs is privileged and honored to serve the men and women who have served America. The staff of the Dayton VA Medical Center are working tirelessly to keep America's promise to Ohioans in uniform who served so well."

Last fall my office was contacted by families of area veterans who had been notified by the Dayton VAMC that their loved ones currently receiving nursing home care at the VA would be moved to community-based care facilities. I met with the then acting director of the Dayton VAMC, after which we held a joint news conference stating that the Dayton VAMC nursing facility would not cut back services and that all patients receiving full-time care there would be able to remain there indefinitely.

When some veteran's families continued to express concern, Congressman Dave Hobson (R-Springfield) and I briefed then Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, Anthony Principi (now Chairman of the BRAC Commission), about the situation during his visit to the region. At that time he publicly stated, "We are not going to diminish our commitment to aging veterans in Dayton. We are going to increase it. The VA has a wonderful nursing home program. Dayton is not going to close down any beds on my watch, or the president's watch."

It was important to take every possible step to continue to protect the nursing home facilities and other services at the Dayton VAMC. Therefore, I sought, and received, an appointment to the House Veteran's Affairs Committee. It is my third committee assignment and fits nicely with my service on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and the Government Reform Committee.

With the nursing home issue seemingly behind us, people familiar with the Dayton VAMC contacted my office and informed us about a proposal to combine the Cincinnati and Dayton VA health care budgets. The plan was to use a surplus in Dayton to make up for Cincinnati's deficits. There was further speculation about additional consolidations that would lessen services available to veterans who rely on the Dayton VAMC.

This proposal was unacceptable to me. I felt this was punishing Dayton-area veterans for Cincinnati's operating inefficiencies. I asked for more than just a response from Clyde Parkis, the Director of the Veterans Affairs District 10. I asked to specifically see the operation's books. In our first meeting, Mr. Parkis was forthcoming and gave me a spreadsheet that clearly showed that the VA indeed was considering combining Dayton and Cincinnati in order to make the overall numbers look better.

After subsequent discussions, Mr. Parkis visited my office in Washington where he finally assured me that the two facilities budgets would not be combined and further that the Dayton VAMC would not face cuts to compensate for Cincinnati's deficits.

I will continue to monitor the budgetary situation, the nursing home services and any other areas of concern at the Dayton VAMC that veterans bring to my attention. In addition, I will continue to make sure that veterans receive the care and benefits they were promised when they put their lives on the line for their country. Veterans deserve nothing less.

http://www.house.gov/miketurner/news/columns/8.05.05.shtml