Pryce, Hobson, Tiberi Introduce Bill to Allow for Comprehensive Inpatient Care for Central Ohio Vets
 
Congresswoman Deborah Pryce...Proudly Serving Ohio's 15th District
 
 
 

December 21, 2007

Pryce, Hobson, Tiberi Introduce Bill to Allow for Comprehensive Inpatient Care
for Central Ohio Vets
VALOR Act Allows VA to Contract with Central Ohio Hospitals

Washington, DC. -- Today, Members of the central Ohio Congressional delegation -- Representatives Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus), David Hobson (R-Springfield), and Pat Tiberi ( R-Genoa Township)--unveiled legislation to provide area veterans with access to full inpatient health care at central Ohio hospitals.

In 2004, the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission – a Veterans Administration (VA) strategic study group tasked with meeting the current and future health care needs of veterans – recommended contracting for full inpatient care for veterans in Columbus at area hospitals. To date, implementing the CARES recommendations has been delayed and mired under legal review. Meanwhile, Columbus, Ohio, remains the largest city in America without full inpatient care services for its veteran population.

To remove any potential legal hurdles preventing the implementation of the CARES recommendations, Representatives Pryce, Hobson and Tiberi have introduced H.R. 4915, the “Veterans’ Access to Local Options for Recovery Act” (VALOR Act). The bill clarifies federal law to allow the VA to contract with hospitals in Columbus and other large urban areas like Charlotte and Jacksonville, which lack a proximate VA inpatient facility.

Pryce, the author of the bill, said, "A critical component of quality health care is accessibility and the proximity of care to the patient. Without nearby access to inpatient services, central Ohio veterans have been shortchanged in their health care options. This is too important an issue for entirely too many veterans and their families to continue to languish amid legal wrangling. The central Ohio delegation has worked tirelessly for years to improve area health care options for veterans, and this bill will help remove the remaining shortcoming in veterans’ health – meaningful inpatient care services.”

Congressmen Hobson and Tiberi are original cosponsors of the VALOR Act. “Our goal from the beginning has been to have comprehensive patient care available in our community, so that central Ohio veterans do not have to travel long distances to receive the care that they need and deserve,” Hobson said.

“Improving care for central Ohio veterans has been a long-term goal for all three of us,” said Congressman Tiberi.  “This bill would help area veterans receive the hospital care they need without traveling far from home and compliments the expanded services and facility we’ve helped secure at the Veterans Healthcare Center at DSCC.”

Last year, the Veterans Administration announced a $20.7 million contract to provide some inpatient and emergency care services for central Ohio veterans at OhioHealth’s member hospitals. However, once the veteran has stabilized, they are transported to VA facilities in Cincinnati, Dayton, Chillicothe or Cleveland for their remaining care, a practice that places considerable strain on veterans and their families. Under the VALOR Act, the VA will be permitted to contract with local hospitals to provide for full, comprehensive treatment of the veteran, from admission to discharge.

In 2003, Pryce, Tiberi and Hobson successfully secured funding for the new Veterans Healthcare Center, a 295,000 square foot outpatient facility under construction at the Defense Supply Center Columbus. For years they worked together to impress upon the VA the need for an expanded ambulatory care facility in Columbus, and helped secure $95 million in construction funding. The outpatient facility is scheduled to become operational in June of 2008. While the facility is expected to have the capacity to house an inpatient bed tower, such an option remains many years away from helping to serve central Ohio’s aging veteran population.

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