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August 17, 2009 – Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson announced today that the Department of Veterans Affairs has completed its review of the Omaha VA Medical Center, which identified significant space deficiencies, crumbling windows and walls, seriously outdated surgical capacity, and proposed five options for overhauling the 57-year-old facility. The study, which Nelson called for in the FY09 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill and secured an agreement from former VA Secretary James Peake to initiate, represents a major step forward in addressing the longstanding problems at the aging facility.
After meeting 10 days ago with current VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Nelson said the problems outlined in the study today underscore the need to ensure that veterans receive proper care and justify the recommendations which have been made to overhaul the Omaha VA Medical Center. Shinseki agreed that the problems are serious and that he would work with Nelson to address them.
“While there are no surprises in the study, it clearly documents in detail what I have been saying for years, that the Omaha VA needs serious work to ensure our fighting men and women continue to receive the care they deserve. The deficiencies threaten to diminish the quality of care available to veterans in the Nebraska and Western Iowa region,” Senator Nelson said. “I’ve met with Secretary Shinseki several times and am convinced that this VA-commissioned study will help us secure the attention and funding to address the serious deficiencies at the hospital. The Secretary and I know well that Nebraska veterans deserve the highest quality care and we must work to ensure they have access to state-of-the-art medical care.”
Among the findings, the study outlines critical functional deficiencies at the Omaha VA:
• Significant space deficiencies: 42 out of 52 departments will require additional space
• Surgical capacity based on 1948 design
• Present space does not meet room size/privacy requirements
• A crumbling building envelope including windows, roof, and walls
• Air handling and HVAC system beyond useful life
• Overall refrigeration system rated F
• 5 separate options for overhaul requiring upwards of at least $500 million, including reconstruction, refurbishment and relocation proposals.
The 57-year-old Omaha VA facility faces a number of infrastructure challenges. Local VA officials in Omaha have sought funding for a major overhaul or replacement of the building.
Nelson has been working intensively for more than a year on addressing the facilities needs at the Omaha VA hospital.
Some of Nelson’s efforts concerning the Omaha VA hospital include:
March 12th, 2008 – Nelson and Congressman Lee Terry met with VA facilities personnel to discuss the Omaha VA Medical Center
April 8th, 2008 – Nelson invited former VA Secretary, James Peake, to visit the Omaha VA Medical Center
April 10th, 2008 – Nelson had a personal follow-up with Secretary Peake to discuss the Omaha VA Medical Center
June 9th, 2008 – Nelson organized a meeting in Omaha with Secretary Peake, Congressman Lee Terry, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, leaders from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Creighton Medical Center and key Omaha business partners to discuss the Omaha VA Medical Center
July 15th, 2008 – Nelson had a personal follow-up with Secretary Peake to discuss conducting a feasibility study on the Omaha VA Medical Center
August 25th, 2008 – Nelson announced a feasibility study commissioned by the VA to review conditions at the Omaha VA Medical Center
April 22nd, 2009 – Nelson met with Secretary Shinseki to discuss Omaha VA
June 11th, 2009 – Senator Nelson attended the Military Construction-VA Appropriations Committee hearing to discuss the Omaha VA facility with Secretary Shinseki
June 12th, 2009 - Nelson had a personal follow-up with Secretary Shinseki who committed to deploy his Chief of Staff to Omaha to survey the Medical Center
August 6th, 2009 – Nelson met with Secretary Shinseki to discuss the Omaha VA Medical Center feasibility study and updates based on the VA Secretary’s Chief of Staff visit.
The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System serves more than 172,500 veterans in Nebraska, western Iowa and sections of Kansas and Missouri. The Omaha VA Medical Center offers both inpatient and outpatient primary and specialty care services.
The Omaha VA provides inpatient, medical, surgical, and psychiatric care in addition to its ambulatory care services and clinical research programs. OVAMC has dual affiliations with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Creighton University. The facility is authorized for 100 acute beds and 18 Psychiatric Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (PRRTP) beds.
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