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AUDIENCE CHEERS IDEA OF SAVING FORT WAYNE VA --
"We hope the VA Hospital inpatient unit doesn't
close because we need something in
Fort Wayne for our veterans."
Story here...
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/
fortwayne/news/local/16415877.htm
Story below:
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Audience cheers idea of sparing VA center
By Michael Schroeder
The Journal Gazette
In the back, unlit recesses of the City Council chambers – a room that
often reverberates with debate – several people nodded off Monday night.
The other 100 or so in attendance at the State of Health Care community
meeting paid closer attention to speakers, leaders of local health care
organizations. But the cordial nature of comments and questions that
followed presentations kept a lid on volume, save one spontaneous
eruption of applause.
That came after an attendant expressed her support for keeping the VA
Medical Center inpatient unit open. Such health care concerns – from the
future of inpatient beds at the hospital to rising health care costs –
were the fodder that drove the meeting’s inception.
The forum was organized by Community Service Council, with the
Neighborhood Associations of Fort Wayne sponsoring. Denise Porter-Ross,
Mayor Graham Richard’s northeast area advocate, guided the proceedings.
Presenting were Mike Packnett, the president and chief executive officer
for Parkview Health; Tom Miller, CEO of Lutheran Health Network; VA
Medical Center Director Cathi Spivey-Paul; Gary Booher, executive
director of Three Rivers Ambulance Authority; and area non-emergency
medical transportation workers. The last 15 or so minutes of the nearly
two-hour affair were opened up to public.
“We hope it (the VA Hospital inpatient unit) doesn’t close because we
need something in Fort Wayne for our veterans,” said Beulah Stohl, whose
brother-in-law uses the VA Hospital. Stohl is president of the Southeast
Waynedale Neighborhood Association, one of numerous neighborhood
associations represented at the meeting.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision on whether to keep the VA
hospital’s inpatient unit open is pending the outcome of a study by
consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. The firm hosted a town hall-style
meeting in November on the issue and is expected to submit a report in
the spring.
Another issue that got some attention Monday night was the possible
consolidation of city and county 911 call centers.
Booher, executive director of Three Rivers Ambulance Authority, said the
authority was in discussions with city and county about the matter. But
K.D. Smith, president of the Statewood Park Neighborhood Association,
said the time had come to take action.
“They can’t wait,” Smith said of 911 callers. He added that calls looped
between centers waste precious time.
Still, Smith lauded Booher and other health care meeting presenters for
making the community forum a priority Monday night, an appreciation
others espoused as well. Those who made comments at the meeting were
generally complimentary of care in the local area and of the efforts
made by local organizations to continue to improve upon it.
mschroeder@jg.net
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Larry Scott
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