Fighting for our Veterans
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
March 11, 2022
Last week, I was informed by Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 23 Director Robert McDivitt and the Biden Administration of recommended in-patient service closures that follow a multi-year nationwide review of (Veterans Affairs) VA services.
The recent recommendations call for the following:
SIOUX FALLS Recommendations
- Reduce ER capacity to an urgent care
- Continue expansion of outpatient services
- Add 30 nursing home beds
- Close the Wagner Community-Based Outpatient
BLACK HILLS Recommendation
- Invest in the Rapid City market with a new VA Medical Center and Community Living Center
- Relocate psycho-social rehab from Hot Springs to Rapid City
- Existing Hot Springs and Fort Meade campuses would be limited to out-patient care.
- Close all in-patient services at Hot Springs and Fort Meade and re-locate to Rapid City.
Over the past week, I conducted a Facebook and email survey asking people if they support the recommended closures. The results are an overwhelming no – that’s no surprise. More than 94% of South Dakotans that responded to the poll voted to KEEP the VA services as they are now and not reduce in-patient services like the recommendation calls for.
I want you to know I do not support the recommended closures and service reductions.
This is not the first time the VA in Hot Springs has been recommended to close or reduce services. In 2017, the VA signed a Record of Decision to vastly reduce services at the facility. However, that decision was rescinded by then-VA Secretary Robert Wilkie in March 2020. Nearly two years ago to the day, I appeared with then-VA Secretary Robert Wilkie when he came to the Hot Springs VA to announce the VA would remain open and there would be no reduction in services for veterans.
South Dakota has been fighting to keep the VA services for over ten years. Our veterans deserve better than policies and recommendations that create uncertainty every couple of years. In South Dakota, promises mean something. This is a betrayal to the Hot Springs, Wagner, and Fort Meade communities and their veterans. If the commission is going to move forward with reducing services, they should face the people of Hot Springs, Wagner, Fort Meade, and Sioux Falls and explain why they believe these services should be scaled back.
The Hot Springs VA has served veterans for more than 100 years. Since opening its doors, the name on the door has changed, the government branch has changed, and the leadership has changed, but service to veterans has remained constant. I will continue to work with the rest of the South Dakota delegation and the community to save our VAs. Our veterans deserve high-quality, accessible health care.
Tough situation, we have small communities (Sturgis, Hot Springs) dependent on the government jobs the VA hospitals provide in those locations. However, it isn’t as much where the veterans are, nor is it cost effective to operate in the older facilities in these locations not far away from each other. I hate to see staples of the community go away, but we need to focus on serving the greatest amount of vets across the state, and that is typically in the population centers (Sioux Falls, Rapid City). Business decisions aren’t always fun, but as a taxpayer, I hope we make the responsible decision rather than subsidizing communities and forcing the service in locations that aren’t practical.