Evening star., 1946-03-19

VA Order Separates
Doctors, Equipment,
Directors Point Out
By Miriam Gutenberg
Sick veterans will have to shuttle
between Mount Alto Hospital and
the Veterans Administration re-
gional Office in the Municipal Build
ing when the treatment clinic is
moved from the hospital to the
downtown office later this month, it
was predicted today.
Although j. B. Cress, assistant
administrator of the Richmond
branch Office, which covers WASH
ington, admitted that what is
planned "is not desirable setup." /"
he said Mount Alto was so jammed
now that it is having great difficulty
getting the clinic work done.
Chief objection of the VA doctors,
who were overruled when Mr.. Cress
ordered the move, is that all the
facilities for X-ray, laboratory tests,
pharmacy and physiotherapy will
remain at Mount Alto. The doctors
contend so per cent of the veterans
who come to the regional office for
treatment will have to be sent to
Mount Alto for tests before they can
be treated.
Estimate Doubtful.
MIR. Cress said he thought 60 per
cent was high figure. Chester r.
Naumowicz, acting regional man.
ager, who carried out Mr.. Cress'
instructions and ordered the move,
said the doctors would have no way
OF knowing how many veterans
might need to be sent one or more
times to Mount Alto from the
regional Office.
All agree that the fundamental
difficulty Is space. The regional
Office expected to move to 1925
H street NV. last month. The
move has been indefinitely delayed.
Although more space . has been
made available in the Municipal
Building-the space into which the
clinic will move-VA is not allowed
to tear up floors to install the heavy
equipment needed for laboratory, x
ray work and physiotherapy, includ-
Ing galvanic baths.
AS a result, although the doctors
In the clinic at,.Mount Alto will move
into the new STAGE in the Municipal
Building, the equipment will not, it
was explained.
Inconvenience Cited.
Some of the VA doctors predicted
this is what will happen when the
clinic moves:
A veteran, assuming treatment is
given, In a hospital, will go to Mount
Alto.
He will be sent to the regional
office for examination and treat
ment.
Unless his ailment is fairly OBJ
vious, the doctor who examines him
may order blood count, some other
laboratory tests or an X-ray.
The veteran will be sent to Mount
Alto for the tests. The clinical dag
nosis-and the veteran-then will be
sent back to the regional Office.
If the veteran needs specialized
treatment - physiotherapy, occa-
sional X-ray or treatment Of skin
condition-he will be sent back to
Mount Alto. |
Prescriptions also will be made up
at Mount Alto, but negotiations are
now under way to have downtown
pharmacy make up emergency pre-
scriptions so the veteran won't have
to make still another trip or wait
till the prescription is mailed to him.
2,542 Treatments in Month.
Estimates varied on how many !
veterans will be affected. Last
month, Mount Alto reported, 1t gave
2,542 clinic treatments in addition
to all its medical examinations.
The regional Office, which then had
a staff of two doctors, gave 224 treat
ments and 1,198 examinations.
VA doctors reported that as high |
as 30 per cent of the veterans COM
ing for treatment have been out of |
the service only month or two and
have never filed pension claims,
which means VA never has exam
ined them. They reported that the
men are being told at separation
centers to go to VA If anything is
wrong with them.
AS result, they are flooding the
hospital and regional Office with a
variety of ailments from asthma to
diabetes. Some are suffering from
the results of fractures or gunshot
wounds.
Broad Policy IN Effect.
Only men with service-connected
ailments are supposed to be given
clinic treatment but, it was ex-
planned, the new VA policy is so
broad that on mans own state
ment of service connection he can
get treatment until VA gets enough
records to determine whether the
ailment resulted from service.
Commenting on the jam that has
resulted from veterans seeking treat
ment and veterans seeking examina-
tions for pensions, Mr.. Cress said,
We have an obligation to handle
the volume as well as to do the best
we can fol-. the individual. We're
going to get an efficient set up as
soon as we can. Meanwhile, we
have to resort to this temporary ex-
pedient."
Red Cross Fund Drive
No.rt1 nm n0nA..L