Bill for new VA hospital introduced

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., today introduced a bill that authorizes construction of a new veterans hospital to replace the Addeliar Guy Ambulatory Care Center, which has a cracked foundation and other problems.

The Veterans Affairs Department plans to abandon the Guy center in the next few months.

Berkley on Wednesday met with Veterans Affairs Undersecretary Gordon Mansfield and other department staffers, telling them she strongly opposed any plan to house veterans health-care services long term in six or more sites scattered around the Las Vegas Valley, as is planned.

"This is a crisis," Berkley said. "We cannot and will not be denied."

VA officials have said it's difficult to find affordable real estate for a new full-service hospital, not to mention a stretch of the department's budget. The department generally focuses on offering outpatient clinics and hasn't constructed a new VA hospital since 1991 in Detroit.

But Berkley is fighting for a single state-of-the-art facility to consolidate services so veterans don't have to trek around the county to different clinics.

Berkley has met several times with Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi and has another meeting scheduled next week. Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., have joined her effort. They envision a new medical center that houses a full-service hospital, outpatient clinic and nursing home.

"The VA knows we have the veterans population, they know we have the need and they know the problems we have with the current clinic," Berkley said. "They have indicated that they have heard me loud and clear."

Congress is wrapping up its business for this year and likely would not act on Berkley's bill, but she wants to lay groundwork for passing it next year.

Plans are under way to vacate the $16 million Guy center, possibly by the end of January. Veterans Affairs Department engineers say the building is crumbling and the landlord has not fulfilled obligations to make repairs.

John Hemple, who runs the Guy center as chief executive officer of the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Health System, is making plans to house services for the next two or three years in facilities around Clark County, including the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base.