VA meeting turns tense
Officials from the Syracuse Veterans Administration Medical Center tried Friday morning to quell fear about a possible gap in health care for north country veterans, and faced a range of other concerns over plans for a contract for operation of the Jefferson County outpatient VA clinic to change hands.
Carthage Area Hospital revealed earlier this week that the VA clinic it currently operates will close Nov. 30, to be replaced by a clinic in Watertown that will be opened Feb. 15 by Valor Healthcare Inc. Valor operates 17 similar facilities across the country.
"No care will be interrupted for any of the veterans of this area," said James Cody, director of the Syracuse VA hospital, during a contentious press conference at the Dulles State Office Building in Watertown.
"We're working on a game plan," he said. "My assumption is that Carthage will be working with us during the transition."
Friday's press conference was meant to serve as the Syracuse VA hospital's official announcement of the planned change in service, but the gathering turned tense at times as Carthage Area Hospital and local government officials questioned the reasons for the switch and the legitimacy of the decision-making process that led to it.
During the press conference, Mr. Cody struggled to respond to questions about why Valor's clinic proposal was accepted over the Carthage Area Hospital bid. Afterward, he said the decision, while based on a number of factors, tilted in Valor's favor based largely on patient access.
"I'm very confident that the product that is being put forth by Valor is going to be as good as the Carthage product, but it will be to more people," he said.
Seventy percent of the Carthage clinic's patients actually live closer to Watertown, he added.
He took pains during the press conference to thank Carthage Area Hospital for its service and said the Syracuse VA hospital was pleased with the quality of care it has provided to veterans since 2003.
In a press release earlier this week, Carthage Area Hospital said it had doubled patient volume to about 15,000 contacts per year and improved patient quality ratings.
The clinic has gone from among the lowest-rated VA outpatient clinics in upstate New York to among the highest, since Carthage Area Hospital took over the clinic contract from Mercy Hospital in Watertown in late 2003.
"Why are we fixing something that isn't broken?" Carthage Area Hospital Administrator Walter Becker asked during the press conference.
He also read aloud from press reports of problems at existing Valor VA clinics and questioned the legitimacy of the contracting process. He charged that Valor was advertising in the area for clinic employees before bid proposals were due.
After the press conference, Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, asked the north country's three Democratic federal lawmakers to call for an investigation of the Veterans Administration.
"I cannot understand why the VA would end a six-year operation with the second best customer service record in the state and bring in a Washington, D.C. outfit that has had issues in some of the other VA clinics that it operates," the assemblywoman said in her statement, directed toward Rep. William L. Owens, Plattsburgh, and U.S. Sens. Kirsten D. Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer.
Mr. Cody said the charges of special treatment for Valor during the bidding process were "baseless."
Of the seven members of the Valor Healthcare management team listed on the company's Web site, three have a history of military service, two as officers. Two previously worked as county veteran services officers, helping veterans file benefits claims with the Veterans Administration. The company's president, Dr. Ray B. Lanier, previously was associate chief of nursing services for the VA Medical Center in New Orleans.
In response to the press reports about problems such as fraudulent billing practices and improper patient care at other Valor clinics, Jim Wheeler, Valor Healthcare's vice president and director of outreach, acknowledged the company was not "without sin."
But, he said, previous issues were resolved and the company's increasing number of government contracts were a sign that it provides quality services.
By the time the company's clinic opens in Watertown, where it will share space in the CANI building with other health care services for soldiers and veterans offered directly by the VA, the company will be operating 22 such clinics across the country, Mr. Wheeler said.
