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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> May 7, 2004

######## VA Announces Changes for Wyoming Health Care Facilities

> WASHINGTON -- Maintaining the current mission of the Cheyenne VA
> Medical Center, studying the range of procedures performed there and
> contracting for some care are part of a comprehensive plan by the
> Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modernize its nationwide health
> care facilities.
>
> \"These changes will provide greater access to care for the veterans
> of Wyoming,\" said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi.
>
> Nearly 23,000 of Wyoming\'s 57,000 veterans were treated last year in
> VA\'s health care facilities, up from about 17,200 in 2000. In 2003,
> VA spent \$157 million in Wyoming, an increase from \$119 million
> three years before.
>
> Secretary Principi noted that about 80 percent of the health care
> provided by VA is outpatient care. He said the plan would allow the
> department to provide more of the outpatient care veterans want and
> use, while building upon VA\'s expertise in providing highly
> specialized inpatient care.
>
> The changes are part of a comprehensive plan called CARES, short for
> \"Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services.\" The secretary\'s
> CARES report can be viewed in its entirety on VA\'s Web site at
> <http://www.va.gov/CARES>.
>
> Briefly, the secretary\'s announcement included the following for
> Wyoming:

-   Maintain current mission at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center;

-   Study the range of procedures provided at small and rural
    facilities;

-   Contract for care in Wyoming to improve access to hospital and
    tertiary care; and

-   Increase use of telemedicine to provide mental health care and
    specialty services to veterans in Wyoming.

> **- More -**
>
> **Wyoming CARES 2/2/2/2**
>
> CARES is a plan to modernize and improve VA\'s health care system.
> Among the elements of the Secretary's CARES decision are more than 150
> new community based outpatient clinics, potential creation of four
> new - and expansion of five existing - spinal cord injury centers, two
> new blind rehabilitation centers, and expansions throughout VA's
> healthcare system that will enhance veterans' access to VA care.
>
> In July 1999, a General Accounting Office study found that VA was
> diverting a million dollars a day -- or \$3.6 billion during a decade
> -- from veterans\' health care to maintenance on unneeded or unused
> facilities. The average age of VA\'s more than 4,900 buildings is more
> than 50 years, and the need to reduce vacant space and unneeded
> buildings has been the focus of several reports by the General
> Accounting Office.
>
> This approach to facility\'s management means the dollars once wasted
> on old and vacant buildings can be used to enhance services in the
> communities where health care is provided.
>
> \"CARES modernizes VA's 74-year old health care system,\" said
> Principi. \"I want to emphasize that no veteran will lose health care
> as a result of CARES, nor will there be any gaps in their health care
> services.\"
>
> The CARES plan was reviewed by an independent commission, which
> received more than 212,000 comments and held 81 site visits to VA and
> Department of Defense medical facilities, and State Veterans Homes, 38
> public hearings and 10 formal meetings. The commission submitted its
> recommendations to Secretary Principi in mid-February.
>
> \# \# \#
>
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>
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