New VA director has 3-year plan for LV

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

The incoming director of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Southern Nevada Health Care System says he plans to work over the next three years to improve veterans' access to health care and upgrade existing Las Vegas facilities.

"I expect this will be my last VA assignment -- I have no intention to relocate or use Las Vegas as a steppingstone," said John E. Hempel, who currently is assistant director of the VA in Tucson, Ariz. "Las Vegas will be the capstone to my VA career."

Hempel, a 55-year-old wounded Vietnam War veteran, was appointed Monday by the secretary of Veterans Affairs to be chief executive officer for the Las Vegas VA starting Sunday.

He previously served as an assistant director in Reno and has been at the Tucson post since 1997, serving at times as acting director and acting chief executive officer. He feels he has the experience to meet the challenges that are unique to Las Vegas.

"The rate of growth in Southern Nevada, especially with the veterans population, is unparalleled," Hempel said in a telephone interview Monday. "Dealing with the aspects of quality care in the wake of such growth will be a challenge.

"My success will be based on my ability to balance meeting the medical care demands (of the veterans) with the budget realities and (limited) facility space."

The local VA program has grown from about 18,200 patients in 1996 to almost 29,000 today, local VA spokeswoman Lisa Howard said.

Hempel, who will be in charge of the A.D. Guy III Ambulatory Care Center and veterans care operations at the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital, says one of his goals is to broaden the services offered to reduce the need for local veterans to travel to Utah and California for treatment and surgeries not currently offered here.

"One legitimate goal is to provide care to veterans in Las Vegas more proximate to Las Vegas," he said. "Las Vegas is evolving from just an outpatient clinic to a much larger and robust program."

Hempel also has experience dealing with state governments and their veterans home operations, similar to the skilled nursing care facility being built in Boulder City.

"I am anxious to reach out to the state and maximize the resources of both the VA facilities and the state facility to provide a seamless transition for the care of veterans," Hempel said.

Hempel replaces Ramon Reevey, who served 5 1/2 years as local VA director before being transferred two months ago to a similar job in Long Beach, Calif.

Hempel inherits a program that enjoyed tremendous growth under Reevey, including the opening of the Guy center in 1997, but also was embroiled in controversy over complaints about lack of specialty care, lack of nurses and technicians trained to operate new equipment and excessive waiting time for appointments.

In March 1999, a team of investigators from the inspector general's office was dispatched to the local VA to probe those complaints. The clinic survived that scrutiny and last February received a maximum 94 score from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations based on improvements made in late 1999.