NAVAPD held its first ever Virtual Town Hall. It was attended by members from around the country. Some of our members asked questions on various topics. The answers to the main themes of the questions are briefly outlined here.

1) Can you discuss what is known regarding the recent announcement of closure of VA hospitals?

VA has announced that there will likely be a closure of three medical centers. From what NAVAPD has learned, the VA seems to be targeting closures of Northampton, Manhattan and Brooklyn VA hospitals. These medical centers were identified during the AIR Commission and recommended for closure. Other medical centers are also recommended for closure with the commission recommending building new VA medical centers in those communities. (See the Washington Post Chart below).

2) Why were physicians and dentists’ tours changed from daily to "hourly"?

This was a change that allows for more flexibility for planning time off or sick leave for physicians and dentists. Previously, for a physician or dentist to take time off for a medical appointment, they would have to lose a day of leave, cancel a whole day’s worth of patients and reschedule those patients. Under the current T&A system a physician or dentist can plan to take leave in one hour increments instead of a fully day.

3) Can you discuss the Cerner Electronic Health Record rollout?

The EHR has been (at the time of the meeting) rolled out to one medical center in the Pacific Northwest. There have been multiple issues with the roll out. One main issue was lack of appropriate training and lack of appropriate back up resources when the rollout began. As of this writing the Electronic Health Record has been rolled out to a second facility in the Pacific Northwest. It remains to be seen if the issues that plagued the Mann-Grandstaff facility will also be issues in Walla Walla. Multiple patient safety issues have been reported and the Office of the Inspector General has issued three briefing reports on those issues. Multiple Senators have called for a halt to the rollout until the issues identified by Mann-Grandstaff are resolved. The VA OIG reports can be found here: Reports (va.gov)

4) Can you discuss the AIR commission preliminary report?

The AIR Commission (Asset Infrastructure Review) has issued a detailed report broken up by region, VISN, and Medical Center. Their recommendations, which can be found here VA Recommendations to the AIR Commission Home, outline the building of new facilities, the closure of outdated facilities that do not meet VA standards, building new Multi-Specialty CBOCs. The recommendations outline how VA will expand to become the primary, world class provider and coordinator of veteran’s health care for decades to come. The purpose of the report is for VA to be able to treat the veterans where they are and where they are moving. These recommendations will then be sent to the President.

The Washington Post published this chart on how VA would change in the coming years. The link to the full article is here: Veterans Affairs releases plan to close dozens of hospitals and clinics and build new facilities - The Washington Post

5) Why is VA requiring CPR every 3 months?

VA physicians and dentists are required to maintain BLS training in order to be credentialed and privileged. Studies have shown a greater retention of CPR skills when those skills are assessed frequently. As such VA has partnered with American Heart Association’s RQI program (Resuscitation Quality Improvement initiative). The goal is to deliver high quality CPR that will lead to better patient outcomes. The quarterly training supports mastery of CPR skills.

We are looking forward to our next virtual town hall meeting! Please send an email if you would like information on how to register.