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LONG-TERM PLANS FOR WACO VA TAKING SHAPE --
Transformation centered around its new role as
a national center for mental health care.
Story here...
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/
content/news/stories/2007/04/0
4/04042007wacVAPLANS.html
Story below:
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Waco VA long-term plans taking shape
By David Doerr
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A transformation of the Waco Veterans Affairs Medical Center is under
way as officials map out a 10-year plan, centered around its new role as
a national center for mental health care.
Paul Batterton, the Waco VA’s top administrator, says some initial
details about the enhancements could be made public later this month.
But there is still work to be done and plans to be approved by
higher-ups, he said.
This type of planning usually takes years rather than months to
complete, Batterton said. But that timeline is being accelerated because
of the country’s acute need for mental health care for soldiers
returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
Batterton’s bosses within the VA want to have the planning done by the
end of the year, he said.
“We don’t have the luxury of time. The need is now,” he said. “And our
veterans deserve the best quality of care we can provide. We are highly
motivated to get everything in place as quickly as possible.”
Two sections of a four-phase plan have been submitted to VA officials in
Washington, D.C. Those parts lay out conceptual construction plans to
revitalize the hospital over the next 10 years.
The construction would include millions of dollars of improvements to
existing facilities and new buildings to take on “leading edge” mental
health care programs, Batterton said.
The first construction phase would focus on facilities for establishing
a “Center for Excellence” in mental health care. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison authored legislation giving the hospital that designation
during the three-year period when Veterans Affairs officials in
Washington, D.C., targeted the Waco VA as a candidate for closure.
Five months after the hospital was saved from the chopping block in
December 2006, the Waco VA is moving ahead with plans to develop the
mental health center, which will focus on research and treatment of
post-traumatic stress disorder.
The second phase of the proposed plan would add a new clinic to
accommodate the Waco VA’s growing number of outpatient visits. Last
year, the Waco VA saw 7,000 more outpatient visits than in 2005, when
the facility had 134,000, Batterton said.
“Every year we see the same increase, so we need a new clinic to meet
all those needs, plus some new services we want to put in there,” he
said.
Batterton declined to comment about the third and fourth phases of the
proposed construction, saying they still needed approval from higher
officials.
“We are reaching out way into the future,” he said. “When we get past
the next three years . . . it really gets kind of fuzzy out there, so we
really need to make sure our data and our statistics justifies those
projects.”
VA officials hope to complete their strategic plan for the hospital and
have it approved by Bruce Gordon, director of the Central Texas Veterans
Health Care System, later this month. However, other aspects of the
planning will not be complete until new staff for the mental health
center are in place, Batterton said.
Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy is continuing her work to gather public input
into shaping the future development of the hospital. In January she was
asked by VA officials to head an effort to develop community and
business partnerships with the hospital.
DuPuy said she has received two proposals from organizations interested
in using vacant space at the VA but could not provide more information.
The mayor also was tasked with soliciting community input from veterans
groups. In February several veterans post leaders met with DuPuy, VA
officials and others involved in the community effort to save the
hospital.
During the meeting, veterans listed various desired enhancements to the
Waco VA, including reopening an emergency triage center; adding special
care doctors for eye, foot and heart issues; and converting one of the
hospital’s vacant buildings into a facility for those not ready to make
the transition back to home life.
Batterton declined to comment on whether any of those specific concerns
had been addressed in the planning done so far. However, by the end of
the month, he hopes to release more details, he said.
“(VA officials) want to have most of (the planning) all in place before
the year is out, and that is moving faster than anything I have
experienced in the VA before,” he said.
ddoerr@wacotrib.com
757-5755
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Larry Scott --
