The MISSION Act of 2018, signed by former President Donald Trump, required the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct Asset and Infrastructure Reviews (AIR) of existing VA facilities and report their recommendations to the AIR Commission. One of the VA facilities studied was the Chillicothe VA Hospital and Campus.
The VA was required to conduct the AIRs and recommend “actions to modernize or realign a facility of the Veterans Health Administration.” The market assessment process of the 98-year-old Chillicothe VA facility included reviews of access, projected demand, quality, cost, infrastructure status and other pertinent subjects.
Based upon the recently completed market assessment, the VA recommended the following actions to the AIR Commission: (1) Moving 50% of the nursing home beds (community living center beds) to the Dayton VA Medical Center and the remaining 50% to a new facility in Circleville; (2) Relocating inpatient acute mental health and the Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program to the Dayton VAMC.
(3) Closing the Chillicothe VA Hospital and constructing a new Community- Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). This new CBOC would provide outpatient services for primary care, mental health and some unspecified specialties.
(4) Collaborating with the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s Medical Center, as well as other local hospitals, (such as Columbus and Cincinnati), to fill the anticipated health care gaps. (5) Continuing to provide specialty care that is not offered in the Chillicothe area at other Ohio VA Clinics.
At this time, these are only recommendations made by the VA. A subsequent determination will be made by the AIR Commission on these recommendations for the Chillicothe VA facilities.
The AIR Commission has at least one year to review the analysis and to hear testimony from those greatly impacted by any potential reduction in services. The final determination on the Chillicothe VA facility will be made by both Congress and President Joseph Biden.
The Chillicothe VA facility provided care to approximately 20,000 veterans per year. In 2021, there were 898 hospital admissions and 221,979 outpatient visits. Although the VA closed its’ acute care facility in 2020, approximately 1,400 employees work at the Chillicothe VA facilities.
According to Gary J. Kunich, a VA Public Affairs Specialist, “The AIR Commission is an opportunity to redesign VA health care to maximize access and outcomes for current and future generations of veterans. It is important to note that any recommendations to the upcoming AIR Commission are just that – recommendations. Nothing is changing now for veteran access to care or VA employees.”
The VA manages 171 medical centers and 1,112 CBOCs, the newest one being the New Boston CBOC, in Scioto County. The VA serves over 9 million veterans annually and there are over 834,000 veterans in the State of Ohio, of which are VA-certified as disabled veterans.
The median age of private-sector hospitals within the United States is approximately 11 years old. The median age of VA hospitals is about 58 years old. The Chillicothe VA facility is 98 years old.
My Opinion: Although the final decision on the Chillicothe VA facility is still years away, the VA market assessment spells out the realignment of medical services that will occur with the closing of the facility. Of course, there will be the usual round of hearings for input from the public opposing the closing of the facility.
These VA facilities are a key economic hub for the region and local community leaders are well aware of the impact that will occur if the Chillicothe VA is closed. The loss of 1,400 jobs for a region is staggering.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has a similar process called the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), with the last round being held in 2005. Bases that I served in, while in the military, such as Fort Sheridan (Chicago); Fort Benjamin Harrison (Indianapolis); Fort Hayes (Columbus); Fort Monmouth (in New Jersey) and Willow Grove NAS (Philadelphia) are now closed— all victims of the BRAC.
Although VA Secretary Denis McDonough is stuck with implementing the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) by the previous Presidential Administration, he said, “My commitment is to handle this in a 100 percent transparent way, because I think that’s the best way to make public policy decisions, especially as it relates to infrastructure.”
My “gut feeling” is that the Chillicothe VA will be history within the next five years, just like Camp Sherman, the World War I site, which the VA Hospital was built upon. I hope that I am wrong, not only for the local veterans that are served at the VA facility, but also for the VA staff that provides excellent care for them.
John Plahovinsak was a 32-year retired Army Veteran and the current Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio Hospital Chairman of all the VA Facilities within the State of Ohio. He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.