By Dan Genz

Tribune-Herald staff writer

The Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital will play an expanded role in helping returning troops transition from combat to civilian life in its new capacity as a center of excellence for mental health.

As the facility continues to be considered for downsizing, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson told a congressional panel Thursday that doctors at the Waco hospital will be asked to develop national models for psychiatric rehabilitation and treatment.

Although the plan does not have any direct bearing on the massive federal review of the hospital’s future, supporters cheered the development.

“It’s good news for all of us who want to keep the Waco VA Hospital campus open because it shows the VA recognizes Waco’s unique strength,” said U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

Under Nicholson’s plan, the hospital will:

* Collaborate with Department of Defense medical personnel at Fort Hood to provide additional outreach services to soldiers returning from Iraq.

* Build on existing programs designed to help troops transition from battle to home.

* Develop a structured approach to rehabilitating mentally ill veterans that gives patients a larger share of responsibility over their recovery program.

Congress recognized the Waco VA Hospital and two other hospitals in New York and California as centers of excellence in mental health last year, and VA administrators have been trying to decide how best to use the hospital’s new designation.

“This is the first official statement from the leader of the VA saying we have specific, tangible plans for the center of excellence,” Edwards said. “It is no longer a center of excellence in name only.”

While the hospital in Canandaigua, N.Y., will become a model for post-traumatic stress disorder programs and the San Diego site will concentrate on post-traumatic stress disorder research, the Waco VA Hospital will focus prominently on bolstering treatment for veterans just returning from war.

“The VA is just as concerned about wounds of the mind as wounds of the body,” Nicholson said, according to Edwards’ office.

Doctors from the Waco and Temple VA hospitals already are providing treatment at Fort Hood and are expected to expand and enhance their operations under the new programs, said Liz Crossan, a VA spokeswoman based in Temple.

Recognizing expertise

“(Nicholson) was acknowledging our expertise in the mental health field and the programs we already have,” she said.

The center of excellence designation comes with $4 million to $6 million in new funding for the three hospitals combined, Edwards said. The resources may be an indication Nicholson isn’t ready to close the hospital, Edwards said.

“This new plan that was laid out today for the first time doesn’t guarantee that the Waco hospital will remain open, but it would be awfully unusual for the VA to be committing millions of dollars in resources to Waco’s role in mental health research and services if it had a plan to shut down the entire campus,” Edwards said.

CARES study

The Waco and Canandaigua hospitals are among 18 nationwide being reviewed by federal consultants under the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services study, which means they could see downsizing or changes in their mission.

Coke Mills, a leader in the effort to keep the hospital open, said the new proposals will benefit veterans, and he implored VA officials to scrap plans to review the hospital when it has new responsibilities during the wars.

“If that’s what you’re going to do, then stop this whole CARES business,” Mills said. “It’s silly to go on with it.”