The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will not move forward with plans to reconfigure South Dakota-based Black Hills VA Health Care System — at least for the time being, according to a Rapid City Journal report.
VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, told a delegation of lawmakers this week he is still examining the closure decision. In the meantime, he said clinical operations in Hot Springs will continue, at least temporarily, and the VA is moving forward with bringing in workers for the new onsite call center, according to a news release.
"I thank Secretary Shulkin for agreeing to revisit the previous administration's decision to close the Hot Springs campus and keep the facility open while it conducts a nationwide evaluation of all VA facilities," U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said in the release. "I support Secretary Shulkin's goal of focusing on quality of care for veterans during this new evaluation. While the Hot Springs campus is no longer an immediate target, it is still in a larger pool of all VA facilities which could be reconfigured."
In January, the VA finalized its decision to reconfigure Black Hills by shutting down inpatient services at its Hot Springs campus. The decision followed a December 2016 meeting with the delegation of lawmakers, which includes Mr. Rounds, as well as Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D. During that meeting, lawmakers urged then-VA Secretary Robert McDonald "to thoroughly consider the input he received from veterans, staff and other community stakeholders," according to the release.
Ultimately, the Obama administration decided to reconfigure the Black Hills system and cease inpatient services in Hot Springs, although the Hot Springs facility was to remain open as an outpatient care and dialysis center. According to the report, the move would have left 100 hospital jobs in Hot Springs, and 300 healthcare jobs would have gone to a new facility in Rapid City, S.D.
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