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Veterans Medical Facilities Feeling War's Toll

Posted on: Monday, 11 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

Jul. 11--Veterans who have fought in the global war on terrorism are creating a ripple effect, not a tidal wave, for the nation's VA health-care facilities. But officials both locally and nationally agree that it's too early to tell what the eventual impact could be.

The Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin has enrolled about 450 new veterans since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. "And we've treated about 225," said Dana Doles, spokeswoman for the facility. "It's been mostly surgery follow-ups, although we've had some primary care, mental health and dental patients."

Doles said the impact to this point has not been dramatic. "We've seen about a six or seven percent overall growth rate," she said, "but I can't really say we've had a great increase in numbers."

That could change following the May deployment to Iraq of about 3,000 members of the 48th Brigade, the largest element of the Georgia Army National Guard.

"So we don't know what to anticipate from that," said Doles. "Certainly our numbers could increase, but between us and centers in Atlanta and Augusta, they'll have coverage."

VA officials have already requested additional 2005 funding from Congress. Overall patient loads this year are running about 3 percent above projections, according to VA Secretary James Nicholson, and significantly more for troops returning from combat.

"Our 2005 budget assumed that 23,553 patients would be veterans of the global war on terrorism," Nicholson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, according to a transcript of his testimony. "The number is now estimated to be 103,000."

Nicholson cited an overall 2005 budgetary shortfall of $1 billion with war-on-terror combat veterans accounting for about 28 percent of the increase.

The massive VA system treats more than 5 million individual patients each year, logging about 55 million outpatient visits and 600,000 hospitalizations.

The Senate approved $1.5 billion in 2005 emergency supplemental funding following Nicholson's June 28 testimony while the U.S. House agreed to $995 million. Those numbers still must be resolved in conference committee. President Bush's 2006 budget request, now before Congress, includes $70.8 billion for the VA, a 2.7 percent increase over 2005.

Phil Budahn, Washington, D.C., spokesman for the VA, said no one knows for sure how long the war on terrorism will continue.

"But the way things are going, it looks like we're facing a fairly steady increase in the number of vets who will be discharged and eligible to come to us," he said.

He does not expect huge increases similar to what the VA experienced following World War II.

"We had increases of about 12 million within a year or two back then," he said. "We're not going to see that now partly because the military has not dramatically increased in number. When the war on terror is over, we probably won't see a dramatic reduction in the active-duty force."

Another reason is the use of past lessons to treat the current generation of combat veterans, particularly for post-traumatic stress disorders.

"Researchers have known for a long time that if we intervene early after a traumatic event it lessens the likelihood of long-lasting, severe consequences," Budahn said. "That's why the Defense Department is putting some of its early intervention teams right behind the front lines. They're encouraging commanders to look for signs of problems, pull people off the front line for a few days and let them get some treatment."

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Source: The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.)

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