Sen. Kaine: Hampton VA progress 'impressive'
The landscape appears to be changing at the Hampton VA Medical Center, and it goes beyond waterfront construction that is reshaping the grounds.
Patient wait times are down, staff has increased, and on Monday a politician came away impressed. Such a trifecta would have been unthinkable nine months ago, when Hampton logged the nation's worst wait times for primary care patients and was trying to overcome the loss of nine doctors in six months.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who toured the hospital Monday, gave hospital administrators high marks for turning the corner, although he said more challenges remain.
"It was impressive," Kaine said, meeting reporters after a tour that was closed to the press.
Primary-care patients are now waiting an average of 7.67 days, according to the most recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. In December 2014, wait times stood at 30.53 days.
Kaine noted that average wait times have dropped while the patient workload continues to increase.
"When you're bringing the waiting times down and serving more people, that's a positive," he said.
Kaine's reaction was markedly different than his Democratic colleague and friend, Sen. Mark R. Warner, who toured the hospital three months ago. Warner said he saw progress but was still disappointed, and he requested an outside management team to evaluate the hospital. That team, which came from Lebanon, Pa., generally gave the hospital high marks.
Meanwhile, administrators have overcome the loss of nine doctors by hiring a dozen health care providers, a mix of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Asked whether the hospital has turned the corner, Director Michael Dunfee replied, "I think it's something where we made a whole of progress, particularly in primary care."
But he agreed with Kaine that some challenges remain, and some are outside the hospital's control.
Kaine was an original co-sponsor of a 2014 law aimed at allowing veterans to seek care outside the VA network if they waited too long or lived 40 miles from the closest VA facility. The program came under fire for confusing guidelines. For example, was it 40 miles in a straight line or 40 miles via the roads?
During his tour, Hampton officials told Kaine about a program that already allows them to refer veterans to private providers, without the 2014 law.
"We spent about $43 million dollars on it during FY14," Dunfee said. "It's a big part of what we do."
Having two programs doing the same thing is wasteful and confusing, Kaine said. He wondered if the VA could streamline the two programs into a single approach.
"The two systems are different," he said. "There are different reimbursements for doctors, different ways you can see private doctors. That creates a system that is fairly confusing if you're a hospital administrator, but it's really confusing if you're a veteran."
Another chance for reform will come in hiring practices, Kaine said. As it stands now, a Defense Department-qualified specialist at a place such as Portsmouth Naval Hospital must qualify separately with the VA to help at Hampton.
"It just doesn't make much sense," Kaine said.
Finally, one of the most important construction priorities at the Hampton VA isn't on the waterfront. It's not even in Hampton.
Hospital officials are hoping to get approval for a 155,000-square-foot health-care center on the Southside. They already have approval to open an outpatient clinic in Chesapeake in late September, but the health care center is a longer term solution.
That comes down to the Virginia delegation getting together and pushing for it, Kaine said.
