Probe to examine VA clinic

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 11:19 a.m.

The inspector general's office will dispatch a team of investigators this month to look into problems with veterans care at the Las Vegas Veterans Affairs clinic.

Sen. Harry Reid's office confirmed Wednesday that the inspector general's Combined Assessment Program team, consisting of representatives from the offices of investigations, audit and health-care inspections, will visit the A.D. Guy Ambulatory Care Center, tentatively between March 22 and 26.

The visit stems from complaints made to the office of Reid, D-Nev., about a lack of specialty care, excessive waiting time for appointments and a lack of nurses and technicians to operate new equipment.

Similar concerns were raised in preliminary findings of an ongoing General Accounting Office study of the clinic.

The VA clinic, at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive, has experienced a huge influx of patients in the past year. The clinic had slightly fewer than 200,000 visits in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. An estimated 235,000 visits are projected for this year, clinic officials said.

Officials at the clinic tried to portray the inspection as routine, with spokeswoman Lisa Howard noting that Las Vegas is due for a regular inspection.

A Reid spokeswoman countered that this is no routine visit.

"No, it is being done at the request of the GAO," Jenny Backus, Reid's press secretary, said. "They will be looking at the concerns raised in the study.

"But they are not after any employees, nor are they going there to punish anyone. The bottom line is that Sen. Reid wants care to be accessible and of the highest quality. He wants the problems to be resolved."

Howard said officials at the Guy Clinic are looking forward to opening their records to inspectors to show that the clinic is meeting veterans' needs in many areas and are quickly addressing veterans' concerns.

The clinic, she said, has made great strides in addressing its shortcomings, adding that "fresh eyes will see the areas we can improve and see the issues we've been addressing all along. We are pleased they are coming here."

At a news conference last month, Reid, surrounded by area veterans who want to see changes in the way the clinic operates under local VA Director Ramon Reevy, said there are "a high number of concerns raised about the Guy center and the level of care being provided to veterans."

Following are some concerns raised by the GAO, and what the clinic maintains it has done to address the problems:

* Failure to recruit sufficient medical staff.

"We are actively recruiting clinicians, including primary care physicians, nurses and specialty providers," Howard said. Other options have been to contract with community providers and utilize neighboring VA sites, she said.

* A shortage of nurses.

There are 26 positions open, Howard admitted. But she added, "We had four nurses receive Nurse of the Year awards for Southern Nevada in 1998 for education, psychiatry, critical care and medical/surgical care."

* Excessive waiting for appointments.

"Our patient-satisfaction scores have improved in five areas," Howard said, including access and time.

* A surgical suite that cannot be used because of an improperly installed ventilation system.

"The building was built and is owned by a private contractor and is leased to the VA," Howard said. "Because of litigation about the building's construction, it has been difficult for us to open the suite."

* No MRI services.

"We have a state-of-the-art MRI at the federal hospital that will be operational in April," Howard said.

* No mammogram services.

"Women veterans receive excellent care through the women's wellness clinic," Howard said. "Mammography is provided at three sites."

* An EEG machine that has not been used because of a lack of qualified staff.

"EEGs are contracted with a community provider," Howard said. "At this point it is more cost-effective to contract for these services."

* Questionable human-resources practices.

"When necessary, we do take appropriate personnel action if clinical or administrative staff do not function at an expected level," Howard said. "These actions are not arbitrary and staff have full civil-service rights."