VA plans to keep nursing home in Livermore VA plans to keep nursing home in Livermore (May 14, 2004)

New clinics will serve East Bay, Central Valley
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

Veterans Affairs plans to streamline medical facilities nationwide have met with distrust and anger from veterans, workers and politicians.

"It's really a waste," said Rene LaVigne, past commander of American Legion Post 237 in Pleasanton. "The facility there is paid for and maintenance is not bad. We took care of them, now it's their turn to take care of us - they're screwing us."

The VA plans, which were announced last week, included the surprise that although the nursing home will stay in Livermore, it may be rebuilt outside the scenic 113-acre campus on Arroyo Road.

"It's quite adequate now but we want the facility to look into the future," said Michael Kussman, acting Deputy Under Secretary for Health for the Department of Veterans Affairs, at a press conference Friday.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi meanwhile announced in Las Vegas the nationwide conclusions after a three-year study by the CARES Commission. "No veteran will lose health care as a result of CARES, nor will there be any gaps in health care services," he said in a press release. "In fact, we will be able to expand outpatient services and provide more of the care veterans want and use."

In Livermore, only the 120-bed nursing home will be kept open. Outpatient services will be provided through two new clinics, one in the East Bay and another in the Central Valley. Specialty services for local veterans as well as short-term hospital stays will be at the Palo Alto facility.

"By adopting the CARES plans, we commit to providing greater access to quality care closer to where more veterans live," said Kussman. "We pledge our facilities will be modern and more functional."

In response to questions about the Arroyo Road property, Kussman said, "That's part of the plan that has to be developed." A master plan will be finished by the end of 2004, he said, and new facilities should be open by 2012.

Pleasanton veterans using the Livermore facility numbered 255 in fiscal year 2002 while the majority came from the Central Valley; 507 came from Livermore. In all of California, about 392,000 were treated in 2003; the VA spent $5.2 billion in California, an increase from $4.1 billion three years before. Principi noted that about 80 percent of VA health care is outpatient, and the new plan would provide for that.

"I've been going there (Livermore) for the last two to three years," said LaVigne. "It's nice, it's good, it's convenient. They're very good people. I had to go to Palo Alto for an MRI one time, and it was an hour drive there and an hour-and-a-half home."

He also noted that the government has closed military bases that had medical facilities that could have been expanded. "The rules keep changing and we don't know which mouth they're talking out of," he said.

"This plan allows us to keep beds in this area," said Elizabeth Freeman, director of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, which includes Livermore. She said that veterans groups will take part in the joint development of the plan. "We have lots of studying we need to do to determine a site in the East Bay." She said they would consider the intangibles, such as the beauty of the present site.

Robert Wiebe, director of VA Sierra Pacific Network, said the nursing home at the present location was not designed as a standalone unit. "We will explore city properties," he said. "This is obviously a beautiful location, but when we talk to the patients, they said what makes it special is the staff and we hope to take all of them with us."

"A lot of us think it's having to do with money from developers," said LaVigne. "That property is beautiful."

Outside the press conference, members of the American Federation of Government Employees unions expressed dissatisfaction with the plan.

"It affects morale," said Bill Luttrell, a spinal cord registered nurse and president of AFGE Local 2110. "The staff is very dedicated but they want job security."

"Trust is the big issue," said Victor Allyn, president of AFGE Local 1620. "Why built something out there when it's already here?" He said $40 million was spent in the last 10 years to retrofit the hospital.

"I am shocked and disappointed with Secretary Principi's decision," said U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R, 11th). "The veterans in California's 11th Congressional District have joined me in the fight to keep the Livermore V.A. hospital open." U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D, 10th) also attacked the closure plans.

The CARES commission held 36 meetings nationwide, including one in Livermore on Oct. 1 for the Palo Alto system, and noted that it received 938 public comments that opposed the closure of the Livermore facility.

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