Improved vets services studied

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 10 a.m.

The Defense Department and Department of Veteran Affairs are trying to see if there are ways to combine their resources for better efficiency.

But even if they are successful, as they have been at the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base, the two departments may fall short in meeting the growing health needs of active military personnel and veterans, a presidential task force says.

Gail Wilensky, chairwoman of the 14-member President's Task Force to Improve Health Care for Veterans, said that her group is studying the possibility of more merged facilities and the potential problems that could follow.

"The point has been raised that even with better coordination, there may not be an adequacy of resources," said Wilensky, a nationally recognized expert on health policy and finance issues.

"Still, our task is to find better use of resources and ways to better coordinate operations."

Wilensky said the O'Callaghan hospital was a good example of how the VA and DOD have pooled their resources to meet the needs of both groups.

Six of the task force members met Thursday at the local hospital as part of their third military installation visit.

"Such joint ventures may be limited to places where there is interest in expanding or building new facilities -- like this place," she said. "At this hospital both sides have seen real gains in the care provided. It is good to see an example of a successful joint venture."

Col. Philip Lakier, chief executive officer of the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital and the commander of the 99th Medical Group at Nellis Air Force Base, said his operation is "the best evidence of a joint DOD-VA operation, probably in the world. We have served as a benchmark for others."

The task force, which meets monthly in Washington, D.C., also is reviewing barriers to coordination between the departments.

A basic difference in the missions of the two agencies is one obstacle the task force says it recognizes.

"The mission of the DOD is to get its personnel fit for war and the VA to take care of the aging veterans -- they are very different missions," said task force member Harold "Harry" Walters, who saw both sides of the issue serving as assistant secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1983 and administrator of veterans affairs from 1983 to 1986.

"One issue we are addressing is with the technology systems."

Walters and Wilensky said that one of the challenges will be trying to electronically integrate medical records of both groups to create a better database.

The final report from the task force, which also includes four doctors and a nurse, is due in March 2003.