Waco VA Update

VA releases Waco hospital analysis to heavy criticism

It looks like Chet Edwards' request has finally been met by the Veterans Administration:

A heavily criticized new Department of Veterans Affairs analysis found the Waco VA Hospital racked up a $16.6 million operating loss in 2004, outspending its earnings by more than 30 percent.

The data made public Wednesday is the first documentation the VA has presented to support earlier estimates that the hospital annually posts losses of $10 million or more.

The seven-page report also suggests the hospital wastes about $3.3 million, or almost 20 percent of the annual deficit, maintaining empty buildings.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, released the report Wednesday after describing its contents Tuesday as inaccurate, vague and faulty justification for closing or downsizing the hospital.

With the financial outline taking up only one page and the report not specifically answering Edwards' requests about the actual cost of vacant space on the campus, the document does not fully address the core question of why the hospital is so over-budget.

"The data presented raises more questions than it answers," said

Kent Keahey, chief executive officer of Providence Healthcare Network, a Waco hospital system, and member of the Waco VA Task Force. "In the limited amount of time I've had to review their information, I would have to say I am very disappointed and frustrated by their response. The information is inadequate to draw any meaningful conclusions, regarding such important decisions as moving psychiatric capability from Waco to Temple."

Edwards will ask for a meeting with VA staff soon to go over his problems with what he called the document's "imprecise and inaccurate" numbers. His office said in a statement Wednesday that the hospital's $16.6 million reported operating loss is based on estimates, not on "hard data."

The VA seems to be engaging in a bit of a tap dance here ... first the economics of the Waco hospital were a factor, then suddenly, they're not a concern:

Fair countered that in the excitement about the documents, some in the public may be losing sight that finances were just one factor in why the hospital is being considered for closure.

"The reason (this type of financial analysis) had not been done before is we were never focused on what the cost of Waco is to us," Fair said.

It's football season, folks. Leave the goalposts in place.