SALISBURY, N.C. — With fears our limited hospital and intensive care unit beds won’t be enough in the coming weeks, the W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury reports it is ready to help if civilian health care systems become overwhelmed.
“Salisbury VA stands ready to support the department’s ‘Fourth Mission’ to surge capabilities into civilian health care systems in the event those systems encounter capacity issues, but at this time they are not encountering such issues,” the facility said in a statement. “Additionally, requests for such support would flow through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is leading the federal government’s COVID-19 response efforts.”
The “Fourth Mission” is a reference to the agency’s pledge “to improve the Nation’s preparedness for response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters by developing plans and taking actions to ensure continued service to veterans, as well as to support national, state, and local emergency management, public health, safety and homeland security efforts.”
That commitment came into question recently as all mentions of the “Fourth Mission” disappeared from the Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Emergency Management website.
State records show hospitals in the Charlotte area have slightly more than 600 ICU beds. At any other time, that is enough to meet the demand, but in a pandemic, it very well may not be enough.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs’ 150 medical facilities could prove helpful.
The agency’s 150 medical facilities across the country are home to a combined 13,000 acute care beds, including 1800 intensive care beds, according to a VA spokesperson.
A 2004 federal survey identified 2,045 VHA ICU beds with the potential of adding 353 more in the case of a local and/or national emergency.
“There is no question that these are unprecedented times that will test the resiliency and preparedness of VA and of us all. I am in close communication with Secretary Wilkie and am confident that VA medical facilities are ready, willing, and able to continue caring for veterans throughout this crisis and to support HHS’ in reinforcing State and local response efforts, if called upon,” House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Rep. Phil Roe (R), TN said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement continues:
“My colleagues in Congress and I stand ready to assist them however needed. As of this morning, VA is caring for 44 veterans who have tested positive for COVID-19 and that number will surely grow. To ensure needed capacity is available for those patients and to slow the spread of this virus, VA is screening everyone who enters a VA facility, restricting visitors, delaying routine and elective care, and increasing opportunities for virtual care. I encourage any veteran experiencing symptoms or who has an appointment scheduled at a VA facility to call ahead and ask for guidance and any veteran who is struggling to cope to call the VA crisis line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. VA doctors, nurses, emergency personnel, and other staff have been working around the clock for weeks and, in many ways, their work is just beginning. I thank and pray for them, for our veterans, and for all Americans but know that, together, we will weather this storm.”
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