|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
June 7, 2004CADILLAC: New VA clinic coming to area Record-Eagle/John L. Russell A Veterans Affairs clinic will come to Cadillac after three years of effort by Commander John Lamphere and other members of the American Legion Post 94 Ray E. Bostwick Chapter. Facility will offer primary care, help ease TC backlogByRecord-Eagle staff writer CADILLAC - Relief for the overburdened Traverse City Veterans Affairs clinic should arrive in 2005 with a new clinic set to open in Cadillac. Traverse City's VA clinic quit taking new patients in 2002 because its sole physician has 3,500 patients and a waiting list of over 1,000 veterans. "You have vets in Traverse City and north of Traverse City who can't use the clinic in their own back yard," said John P. Lamphere, director of veterans' affairs for Wexford County. "This will relieve the stress in Traverse City quite a bit." "Traverse City is full of Wexford County people," said Army veteran Larry Johnson, 63, of Cadillac. "They'll want to get as close to home as possible, especially with these gas prices." Johnson, past commander of the Cadillac American Legion Post, said he'll transfer from Traverse City as soon as possible and his brother in Manton probably will, too. Korean war veteran Don King, 74, couldn't get into the Traverse City clinic, so he drives to Grand Rapids for his VA health care. "I'm telling you, this is good news for this area right here," King said. The clinic, along with one in Clare, was proposed more than a year ago as part of a 20-year plan to modernize VA facilities across the country. Known as the CARES plan, a 16-member commission reviewed the draft plan and made recommendations to Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of Veteran Affairs. The recommendation called for a number of new VA clinics and expanded services at existing clinics in Michigan. When Principi accepted the plan in early May, Michigan wasn't included in the expansion plan. "The only thing Michigan got was consolidation and closure," said Chuck Lerchen, director of veterans' affairs for Grand Traverse County. "We all thought it was dead," Johnson said. The CARES plan calls for removing hospital beds from the Saginaw VA hospital and consolidating acute care services in Detroit and Ann Arbor facilities. Because adding the two new clinics was supposed to help ease the downsizing at Saginaw, VA Region 11 appealed Principi's decision. Craig Anderson, Region 11 CARES coordinator, said they were notified last week they could make plans for the clinics. Anderson said a full application for funding the clinics in fiscal year 2005 will be submitted by the end of the month. He sees no reason the clinics can't be up and running next year. Like Traverse City, the clinic will provide primary care services. For now, veterans needing hospitalization, lab work, prescriptions, or specialists will still have to travel to Saginaw, Detroit, or Ann Arbor. Grand Traverse County has pushed for more specialty services at the Traverse City clinic. Lerchen said the final CARES decision calls for expanding services and he will meet with the director of Region 11 in July. In what Anderson called "a powerful statement," Principi recommended contracting with local hospitals in rural areas for inpatient care, something VA has avoided in the past. Setting up the protocols for these contractual services will take a least a year, Anderson said.
|
|
