News on veterans hospitals to come soon, official says

One senator said he thought certain hospitals would remain open.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Bush administration could decide as early as next week which veterans hospitals will be shut down or scaled back, according to Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi.
During a series of meetings at VA hospitals across western Pennsylvania on Thursday, Principi said he hopes to present his recommendations on the fates of the nation's 4,200 VA medical facilities to the Bush administration by Sunday and make a formal announcement April 30 or May 3.
Flanked by Sen. Arlen Specter, Principi said he is not "wed" to recommendations by a 16-member panel to close hospitals in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Mississippi. But he was tight-lipped about the fates of the hospitals he visited Thursday.
"You can be assured ... that next week when a decision is announced, you will be pleased," Principi told a group of veterans crowded into a room at Erie's hospital.
In Altoona, he told veterans, "I assure you my decision will reflect the importance of this facility in meeting the health care needs of our nation's veterans and the health care needs of the veterans in this portion of the country."
Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, was more confident, telling veterans in Erie and Altoona he thought the hospitals would remain open.
Left conflicted
Veterans and hospital officials were conflicted about the visits.
Ed Nielsen, 86, a World War II Army veteran, said he thought the Erie hospital would be spared, although the CARES (Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services) Commission recommended it close as soon as possible.
"The care given here is up-to-date. I can't image going down to Pittsburgh for treatment," Nielsen said.
James Palmer, chief executive of the Erie hospital, was more cautious.
"Until a decision is made, you don't know what influence the president and his staff will have," Palmer said. "This is a positive sign, but I will wait for a final decision."
The CARES Commission found that money the VA was spending to maintain unused or underused property could be used to provide direct medical care to veterans.
"The commission believes that change is necessary to prepare the system for a new veteran demographic reality and a rapidly evolving approach to health care delivery," the panel members said in their February report.
Many veterans have moved from northern cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Boston and New York to Sun Belt states like Florida, Texas and Arizona.
The VA launched the massive restructuring after government auditors in 1999 predicted that the VA would spend billions of dollars to operate unneeded buildings and that as much as one in every four VA health care dollars would be devoted to maintenance and operation of facilities.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.