VA secretary visits Walla Walla
WALLA WALLA – The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs left some questions unanswered on Friday when he announced this city would be getting a new outpatient facility to replace the decrepit VA hospital that was recommended for closure two years ago.
Only a few residents showed up to hear the announcement by Secretary James Nicholson, who visited this southern Washington city for the first time with little advance notice. He was accompanied by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, who spoke with about 20 people after Nicholson’s brief news conference.
The secretary said he came “not to reduce services to veterans, but indeed, quite the opposite,” promising to build a new state-of-the-art facility on the campus of the Wainwright Medical Center here.
The hospital, built in 1929, has not had a major improvement in more than 50 years. In 2004, a VA committee panel called the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services Commission recommended the facility, including its 30 nursing home beds and 22 residential psychiatric care beds, be eliminated.
On Friday, it appeared the VA still intended to close inpatient care.
Nicholson said the VA will work in partnership with local officials, nonprofit organizations and state and local governments “to develop innovative ways to provide nursing home care and residential care.”
Nicholson would not venture a guess as to how much the new outpatient facility would cost or when residents could expect it to be completed.
McMorris, who said she had been looking forward to Nicholson’s visit for months, told the secretary she appreciated “the commitment Veterans Affairs is making to this community.” She also noted the involvement of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, “who couldn’t be here today.”
Murray, whose office said she was not invited to Friday’s event, said she had only heard secondhand accounts of the new plan and has several concerns, including how the Bush administration plans to pay for the new facility.
Murray, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee, also added she only has secondhand reports of Nicholoson promising a clinic to veterans in Bellingham on Thursday.
“I was not invited to that event, either,” said Murray, who is currently in Washington state.
“I’m concerned the VA secretary has promised two additional facilities without the commitment from the White House for additional funding,” she said. “It has to be more than words; we have to have a commitment of dollars.”
The proposed outpatient clinic might be a first step in a solution to meet the need for some type of VA “footprint” in Walla Walla to serve southeastern Washington and adjoining counties in Idaho and Oregon, she said.
But Murray repeated she doesn’t know much about the proposed clinic and said there are concerns in Walla Walla that the private medical community can’t fill the gap for some types of inpatient care, such as mental health and long-term care.
It was a sentiment shared by several of those attending Friday’s conference, including Buddy Georgia, a veteran and member of the local advisory committee.
“The things that weren’t discussed are the things that disturb me the most,” Georgia said.
But Walla Walla City Manager Duane Cole called the announcement “good news for the community.” He said the VA’s position all along has been that there is not enough demand to justify an inpatient facility.
He was optimistic that the state and federal governments would one day share the cost of a new nursing home to replace the VA’s. He also suggested that Idaho and Oregon should be invited to join in the discussion.