Officials plead to save Walla Walla VA hospital

Officials from the Walla Walla area made a direct plea Thursday to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to keep the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center open in their city.

Joined in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the officials presented a plan they said would allow the VA to continue offering health care to veterans, while reducing the costs of maintaining the sprawling hospital complex.

“We’ve made progress today in getting the VA at the top level to hear from the community,” Murray said in a conference call with reporters.

But no promises were made and the fate of the hospital – which serves veterans in Eastern Washington, North Idaho and northeastern Oregon – is still up in the air, she said.

Duane Cole, city manager of Walla Walla, said the local officials presented the community’s plan to Jonathan Perlin, undersecretary for health at the VA.

“It was a positive meeting,” he said.

Jerry Cummins, a Walla Walla City Council member, said they emphasized that their first concern was providing services to veterans.

The current medical center includes numerous buildings on 84 acres of land, Cummins said.

The plan created by Walla Walla interests calls for centralizing medical services in a new building on the grounds, maintaining some historic buildings on the site dating to 1855, and opening up much of the rest of the grounds to economic development, Cummins said.

A new hospital is estimated to cost $170 million.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson will make the final decision on which hospitals remain open.

Murray said the efforts of the Walla Walla community have been very helpful.

“A few years ago a decision was made to close Walla Walla with no plans for treating veterans,” Murray said. “Today we are not talking about closing down care of veterans at Walla Walla.

“That is tremendous progress,” she said.

The medical center has 350 jobs and an annual payroll of $18 million to $20 million.

The facility serves an estimated 69,000 veterans living in 14 counties in the three states.

Since 2004, Veterans Affairs has been evaluating how it provides services at 17 facilities nationwide, including at Walla Walla.

The nearest other medical centers are in Spokane, Portland and Seattle. The district also has clinics in Richland, Yakima and Lewiston.