Letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Prinicipi

February 26, 2004

The Honorable Anthony Principi
Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420

Secretary Principi:

We are writing to express our concerns with the CARES report recently presented to you. While we appreciate and support the Commission's recommendations about the need to expand services in Vancouver, we urge you to reject the recommendation to close the VA facility in Walla Walla.

As you are aware, the CARES Commission has proposed contracting out inpatient medicine, psychiatry care and nursing home care. We have concerns about contracting out any of these services as the private sector facilities in the area do not have the capacity to take the additional patient load.

We are particularly worried about the lack of mental health care services in the community to care for our veterans. The Commission has suggested that, while there are not current mental health care services in this area, it believes such services will become available. However, the Washington State Mental Health Division (WSMHD) has recently completed a study that estimates that approximately 296,000 people in Washington state suffer from serious mental illness and that in Walla Walla County approximately 3,202 people currently suffer from serious mental illness.

Walla Walla County is managed by the Greater Columbia Regional Support Network, which also includes Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Kittitas, Klickitat, Skamania, Whitman and Yakima Counties. This study showed that 29,544 adults had serious mental illness while only 9,465 in this region received public mental health services. As the VA is currently one of the few sources for mental health care services, we very concerned that affordable and quality services for our veterans in Central and Eastern Washington will not materialize.

As you know, last December, we sent a letter to Dr. Roswell alerting him to many of our concerns. Specifically, citing the artificially low market penetration in Washington state's VA system. Due to the economic downturn in our State and especially in the Walla Walla area, many veterans have seen their private health care benefits erode and the cost of their health care dramatically increased. Coupled with the fact that a new generation of veterans will be returning home to Washington after their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans in our state will be coming to the VA with increasing frequency. It is imperative that all of these veterans receive the quality VA healthcare to which they are entitled.

Another concern is the increasing age of veterans in our State. Currently, 55 percent of veterans in the State of Washington are over the age of 55. The demographic projections for veterans in the next two decades indicate that in 2022 over 70 percent of Washington's veterans will be 55 or older. It is essential that we take steps to ensure our aging veterans, as well as our new veterans can get adequate health care.

We are also deeply concerned with the backlogs and delays our constituents continue to experience. There are approximately 14,000 veterans on the VISN 20 waiting list. These veterans will wait six or more months for a non-emergent clinic visit. The VISN 20 waiting list represents twenty-four percent of the national waiting list but only represents five percent of the total veterans population. Closing the Walla Walla VA Medical Center will further exacerbate the backlogs and delays our veterans are already forced to encounter.

Finally, we respectfully remind you of PL100-71, which prohibits changing the mission of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Walla Walla.

We are aware of the challenges you face and appreciate your commitment to caring for all of our nation's veterans. We are committed to all veterans and look forward to working with you on improving the health care of those both in Washington state and across the country. However, without adequate alternatives available to our State's veterans, we must renew our objection to the CARES Commission's recommendation for Walla Walla and urge you to reject this portion of the report.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray
United States Senator

Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

CC:Dr. Robert Roswell, Undersecretary for Health