Monday, September 29, 2008
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THERAPEUTIC: Youngstown veteran Robino D. Lawrence, left, works with Matt Creed in the physical therapy department of the Veterans Affairs clinic in Youngstown.
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STEPPING UP: Physical therapist Kenneth Lamb helps veteran Paul Zornjack exercise at the Veterans Affairs Youngstown Outpatient Clinic. The clinic has helped more than 10,000 veterans each year since 2005 with injuries and disabilities suffered during their duty.
Loss of clients could spark cutbacks, officials say
The number of patients at the Youngstown VA clinic dropped in 2007.
YOUNGSTOWN — Veterans need to use the Veterans Affairs Youngstown Outpatient Clinic on Belmont Avenue or potentially lose services, VA officials said.
It’s “use it or lose it,” said Mark Bell, clinical administrator for the Youngstown VA.
Funding for VA facilities is based on usage, and though the number of patients treated at the Belmont VA Clinic has been up and down over the last few years, the trend is down, Bell said.
The Youngstown VA clinic treated 10,669 patients in fiscal year 2005; 11,599 in 2006; 10,583 in 2007; and 10,719 to date in fiscal 2008, which ends Sept. 31, according to Joseph Kohut, director of primary care line and community-based outpatient services for the VA regional that includes Youngstown.
Kohut said the number of patients treated by a VA facility determines its funding level two years later. For instance, this year’s budget was a reflection of the patients treated in 2006, and the 2009 budget will reflect the lower number of patients treated in 2007.
Bell is not suggesting that closing the Youngstown Outpatient Clinic, at 2031 Belmont, is imminent. But, he said there is already evidence of what can happen when the VA sees a reduction in the number of patients.
The clinic’s mobile annex, at 2007 Belmont, which opened only two years ago, was closed in August because of decreased usage.
The annex originally housed mental health services while internal remodeling was done at the main clinic. Also, physical therapy was moved into the annex from the Warren Outpatient Clinic in the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital, and podiatry and optometry was moved there from the main Belmont Clinic. This summer, those services were squeezed back into the main Belmont Clinic.
“Funding is determined by the number of patients per square feet. The annex is now vacant, a victim of the numbers game,” Bell said.
Kohut said the VA tries to grow its patient census from 1 percent to 5 percent a year, and when a drop is noted, “we try to find out why.”
Part of the reason for the drop is that World War II veterans are dying at the rate of 1,800 a day, Kohut noted.
Also, he said veterans who are eligible but have other forms of health insurance don’t want to use their VA benefits, believing they are saving them for some other veteran who needs them more.
Though they mean well, the opposite may be true, and illustrates another reason why VA patient numbers are trending downward. Many veterans are uninformed about their eligibility and benefits and how the funding works, Bell said.
VA eligible veterans can use their civilian doctor and health insurance and also help their fellow veterans by enrolling in the VA and coming a couple of times a year for a physical or a second opinion, Kolhut said. If they do that, they will be counted for funding purposes and help keep the services that exist and perhaps even expand them, he said.
Another advantage to enrolling, even if a veteran is not then eligible for benefits, is that their enrollment date will determine their future eligibility and they will be grandfathered into the system in the event of rule changes, said Richard Mitchells of Canfield.
Mitchells, who served in the Marine Corps in the Korean War in 1951 and 1952, said he is aware that VA funding depends on the number of patients, and he visits the Youngstown Outpatient Clinic for a couple of physicals a year for that very reason. Also, he uses the VA for some of his prescriptions, the co-pay for which are $8.
Another Marine Corps veteran, Glenn Buzzard of Hubbard Township, gets all of his medical care through the VA. The double Purple Heart recipient served during World War II in the Pacific Theater and saw action as a machine gunner on the islands of Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tinian and Roi-Namur.
Buzzard said the VA “does everything I ask them to do. They do good work for me and treat me well.”
The average veteran doesn’t have all the information about eligibility and benefits, and the best way to find out is to come in and enroll, Bell said.
He said veterans are placed in eligibility priority levels based on income and assets and other factors.
Veterans who use the VA help maintain consistency of services and help other veterans at the same time, Kohut said.
“Stand up for your buddies,” he said to veterans. “You did it in the foxhole; why not now?”
alcorn@vindy.com