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By MALIA RULON
WASHINGTON (AP) - A veterans hospital in Brecksville, Ohio, should be closed and the Bush administration should make building a new veterans facility in Columbus a "high priority,'' an advisory commission said Friday.
The 16-member panel appointed to review the Department of Veterans Affairs' realignment of its health care system said moving all veterans services from Brecksville to a VA hospital 10 miles north in Cleveland would save time and money.
Currently, inpatients at the Brecksville hospital who need emergency care must be transported to the Cleveland hospital or another facility. Consolidating services would save $27 million a year in maintenance and infrastructure costs, the panel said.
The Brecksville hospital is one of seven VA hospitals nationwide the agency plans to close. The commission accepted or rejected several other proposals Friday affecting dozens of VA facilities across the country as part of a 20-year plan.
Some Democrats were skeptical that final decisions to close the hospitals would come in an election year, especially since Ohio is important in the presidential campaign.
"The political appeal is if you want to carry Ohio, George Bush, don't do this,'' said U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Lorain.
"The VA commission wants us to believe none of these services will be reduced or eradicated, but I am not convinced,'' he added. "We're going to do everything we can to keep it open.''
About 261,000 veterans use VA medical centers in Ohio.
Veterans groups say the government shouldn't be thinking about shutting down VA facilities while U.S. soldiers are being killed and wounded in Iraq.
"Regardless of the election, it seems inappropriate to close veterans hospitals in time of war,'' said Steve Thomas, a spokesman for the American Legion.
VA Secretary Anthony Principi promised to decide in about a month which hospitals to close or reduce in size.
If the Brecksville hospital is closed, services would be moved to Cleveland over five years and require renovations and a 500,730-square-foot addition that would cost about $220 million.
More than 5,000 veterans go to Brecksville for outpatient services each year, including George Cubbedge, a Korean War veteran from Parma Heights.
Cubbedge, 73, said the Brecksville hospital is "a palace'' that's popular for its gymnasium and heated Olympic-sized swimming pool. He said he doesn't think the Cleveland hospital can match that.
"It's ideal for psychiatric treatment and substance abuse. They have programs here that receive patients from all over the state,'' Cubbedge said.
The commission also recommended building a 260,000-square-foot facility on federal land at the Defense Supply Center in eastern Columbus, which would save the VA $1.3 million a year in rent.
The closest veterans clinic to Columbus is 50 miles away in Chillicothe, which means many patients must travel to facilities in Dayton, Cincinnati or Cleveland to get health care.
"The commission recommends that the new Columbus outpatient specialty care center be a high priority,'' the report said.
The new center would replace the current, 118,000-square-foot Columbus veterans facility, which is overcrowded and doesn't offer enough services. It was built in 1995 to handle 135,000 visits a year, but last year had more than 205,000 visits, clinic officials said.
U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson, a Springfield Republican, called the clinic's high priority designation "great news'' that will ensure federal funding. The new clinic is expected to cost $65 million to build and $25 million for equipment.
On the Net:
CARES commission: http://www.va.gov/cares
Ohio veterans facilities: http://www1.va.gov/visn10/default.htm
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