VA commission recommends closing Beckley VA Medical Center, replacing with new structure for out-patient services
BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) - A new report out by the Veterans Administration’s Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission has recommended the Biden Administration close the Beckley VA Medical Center.
The recommendation calls for replacing the facility with a new building dedicated to an expansion of its out-patient services and long-term care, which were identified as critical needs according to their review. If implemented, the move would cut all in-house medical, emergency, and surgical care at the existing hospital.
The commission is basing the recommendation off of a 39 percent projected decrease in daily patients for in-house medical and surgical procedures between 2019 and 2029.
Delegate Austin Haynes, (R) Fayette County, along with several other delegates, have recently drafted a letter to West Virginia’s U.S. Congressional Delegation asking them to oppose the move.
“In West Virginia we have one of the highest rates of veterans per capita. It seems like a bad thing to reduce services for those who defended the country. We need to defend them and give them health care readily available.”
Meanwhile, the report said veterans would still receive coverage for in-patient care outside the hospital through other facilities.
Two other VA Medical Centers in West Virginia -- the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, and the Hershel “Woody” Williams VAMC in Huntington – would also see a reduction in services and discontinued in-patient and emergency room care.
The recommendations have to go through a year-long process of public hearings before a formal recommendation is submitted by the Biden Administration to Congress.
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