Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Healthy news for vets

For Southern Nevada veterans such as Kenneth Rogers, a long-anticipated Veterans Administration medical center in North Las Vegas cannot open soon enough.

An 80-year-old Las Vegas resident and Naval veteran of World War II, Rogers is a paraplegic after falling from a cliff 30 years ago while working ski patrol in California.

Once a year, Rogers drives himself to VA hospitals in Long Beach or San Diego for several days of medical evaluations unavailable at the limited veterans' facilities here.

Other veterans also routinely go to Southern California for surgery or medical treatment that they cannot receive in the Las Vegas Valley. Although the VA pays for vets to fly to California, many dislike having to travel so far for medical treatment and being away from loved ones.

"It is a hardship for a lot of veterans, especially those who have mental problems" Rogers said. "It is a lot easier to take a trip five miles down the road to the hospital than drive 300 to 400 miles."

Veterans have long pushed for their own Nevada hospital, a dream that will move closer to reality today if, as expected, the North Las Vegas Planning Commission backs plans for a 726,000-square-foot, 90-bed hospital and outpatient clinic.

The plans also call for a 120-bed nursing home, hospice and rehabilitation center at the site, at the southeast corner of the Las Vegas Beltway and Pecos Road.

"This is a very positive step. I think this represents a clear commitment of the Department of Veterans Affairs that we are moving ahead with this project," said John Bright, the director of the planned medical center.

"Every veteran in the valley has been asking for this for years, and for the first time we will have a full-service VA medical complex."

Work to begin extending utilities to the 150-acre complex is scheduled for August or September, with construction of the medical complex to start by late 2007 and be completed by late 2009 or early 2010. But the facility is not scheduled to open until 2011, Steve Stern, the project's coordinator, said.

In August 2003, the VA announced plans for the medical complex, and a year later selected North Las Vegas as the site.

But Congress has yet to approve all of the funding for the project, which because of rising construction costs and upgrades, is estimated to cost $406 million, up from $295 million in 2004. To date, only $259 million has been authorized by Congress, and the Veterans Administration did not request funding in its fiscal 2007 budget.

Not having all of the funds locked up has veterans worried, said Ed Gobel, president of the Council of Nevada Veterans Organizations. And while Gobel said he believes the facility will ultimately get built, he noted that, given the nation's budget woes, promises are not enough.

"You can't build a facility on hope," Gobel said. "They promised to have the facility open in 2007, and ... the money is not there.

"Of course we are worried. I believe it will happen, but it will take all of the veterans to get together to make sure it happens and not trust anybody to make it happen on its own."

VA administrators have assured members of the Nevada congressional delegation that the project remains on track. The remaining funding is expected to be in the VA's fiscal 2008 budget, Bright said.

"There is no doubt it is going to be funded," Bright said. "We don't build these facilities like a casino. It is important to take the time and do it right."

Nevada's nearly 250,000 vets and a 40,000-plus VA patient caseload, Gobel said, underline the need for the medical center.

Las Vegas Valley veterans now undergo surgeries at several local hospitals or at the 50-bed Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base. A joint venture between the VA and Air Force, the hospital is not big enough to handle the VA caseload, Stern said.

Bright estimates that veterans make about 1,500 trips a year to California for evaluation, treatment and operations not available at VA facilities in Nevada. The new medical center is expected to reduce that number by 85 percent, he said.

The VA operates 12 clinics in the Las Vegas Valley where primary care doctors and specialists treat veterans. It also contracts with specialists for services not offered locally by the VA.

Once the medical center and outpatient clinic open, all specialists will be consolidated at a single location, Bright said.

"This will be part of the advantage of having a full-scale medical center," Stern said.

"There will be a better continuity of care. That way you have a doctor prescribe the treatment that is part of a team. There would be coordination with rehabilitation and if the patient had diabetes, you could work with the dietician. The care will be more consistent."

By having a research center as part of the medical center, Las Vegas also will attract quality doctors wanting to work for the VA, officials said.

That in turn should help make it easier for veterans to get prompt medical care instead of sometimes waiting weeks to get an appointment, Rogers said.

"This is going to mean a lot to veterans," Rogers said. "It is something that is needed and needed right now, not 10 years down the road."

Brian Wargo can be reached at 259-4011 or at [email protected].

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