Elizabethtown veterans clinic to relocate

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December 8, 2009

Date unknown, but move to Tri-Lakes forecast

By ALVIN REINER The Press Republican Wed Dec 09, 2009, 06:03 AM EST

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ELIZABETHTOWN — The Veterans Administration health clinic here will be closing, but when is uncertain.

And it looks like the clinic will be moving to the Tri-Lakes area, but a location hasn't been found.

The lack of a formal proclamation by the Veterans Administration has left the Elizabethtown Community Hospital and area veterans confused and concerned.

LOOKING TO LEAVE

In May 2009, veterans filled the Old Essex County Courthouse and gave impassioned pleas to keep the clinic at the ECH, citing the central location and the excellent care provided during the past 20 years.

The hospital filed documents to keep the clinic shortly thereafter and was expecting to be informed of the status sometime in June.

But no decision has been publicly released by the Veterans Administration.

"ECH understands that the VA is looking to lease a different location in the community of Elizabethtown," the hospital said in a news release. "Unfortunately, there has not been much communication from the VA in regard to the status of the clinic."

Elizabethtown Community CEO Rodney Boula received an e-mail on Sept. 11 indicating that the space offered by the hospital did not "suit the needs of the clinic, due to space limitations."

The last communication received from the VA said that it would be vacating the space within the hospital sometime between Dec. 1, 2009, and May 1, 2010.

STAFFING

Currently, there is no VA physician or staff in place at the VA clinic in Elizabethtown. There is a substitute physician, along with an ECH registered nurse, receptionist and volunteer.

The hospital cannot let the clinic go unstaffed, even though the VA has not communicated its definite status to hospital administration.

The clinic has been operating without having a contract or lease agreement since October 2008.

"Having a veterans clinic in Elizabethtown makes a lot of sense," Boula said. "There is a VA office in the Essex County Government Center, and it's convenient for those using the clinic to be able to obtain lab work or other diagnostic tests completed right in the same building.

"We have been honored to help provide medical care to veterans at our hospital. The recent hospital expansion and renovation included a new state-of-the-art clinic, space devoted to serving local veterans.

"Our board, administration and staff is becoming quite concerned that this situation is negatively affecting the hospital's image and hampering our ability to make meaningful plans for the future of the clinic and the space it occupies."

STAFF, SPACE

Mary-Ellen Piche, director of Stratton VA Medical Center, which oversees the New York VA clinics, told the Press-Republican: "What we are looking toward is a staff model, which will be for the Saranac Lake and Lake Placid area."

The primary reason for not continuing the current Elizabethtown clinic, she said, was that ECH could not provide staffing that would include a doctor and a nurse.

In addition, she said, the VA is looking to lease an approximate 2,600-square-foot space.

"We're hoping people will come forward to meet our needs."

VA plans call for a doctor and nurse team to spend several days per week in the Saranac Lake facility and the other day or two at a site in Elizabethtown.

No date has been set for the move due to the need to find acceptable space and then renovate it, with the earliest being the spring of 2010, Piche said.

Blood tests and X-rays will be taken at the community-based labs, but veterans from the North Country will have to travel to Albany for most services such as ophthalmology, orthopedics and surgeries.

Peter Potter, public affairs officer at Stratton, said 102 enrolled veterans in the Elizabethtown and Westport area use VA services. About 354 enrolled veterans from Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Tupper Lake use VA health facilities.

"We're committed to reaching out to vets eligible for care," Piche said. "That's why we are expanding to provide services closer to where they live."