Charles George VA Medical Center releases statement on State of the VA address

Press release from the Charles George VA Medical Center:

State of the Asheville VA— 5 Stars!
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David J. Shulkin delivered his first “State of the VA” address on May 31, highlighting the activity and direction of the agency since his appointment in February. In his address, Secretary Shulkin stated that he wanted to update Veterans on the progress the agency is making while also acknowledging the shortcomings that the VA has identified and will address in the upcoming months.

A fact sheet highlighting some of the elements of Secretary Shulkin’s address can be found at:

http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/StateofVA_FactSheet_5-31- 2017.pdf

The Secretary’s “State of the VA” address provided a global view of the steps he is taking to set VA on a course for success. Here at the Charles George VA Medical Center, we fully support the Secretary’s efforts to revolutionize healthcare for Veterans. Per the Secretary, his goal is to, “turn the VA into the organization Veterans and their families deserve, and one that America can take pride in.” In addition to the great strides we are currently making to provide excellent health care to 48,000 plus Veterans, below is a list of actions in progress by Charles George VA Medical Center that support the Secretary’s key priorities.

Quality

Charles George VA Medical Center continues to attain accolades regarding the quality of care it provides America’s heroes. These successes are directly related to the nearly 1800 dedicated and committed employees who serve Veterans daily. Because of their hard work, we have earned and maintained a 5-Star Quality rating based on the VA’s Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) Model for ten consecutive quarters. SAIL mirrors the Truven model that is known in the private sector. In addition, this facility is in the top 3% of all VHA medical centers for quality of care and efficiency. In May 2017, the facility earned its Joint Commission Accreditation, which is a national and well-recognized symbol of healthcare quality and excellence.

Access

Ultimately, the medical center’s goal is to deliver quality health care in a timely manner. Charles George VA Medical Center continues to meet this goal by providing Veterans with the care they earned, when they need it. As of April 30, 2017, our wait time for Primary Care is 4 days, 10 days for Specialty Care, and 3 days for Mental Health Services. However, for Veterans requiring urgent primary or mental health services, the medical center as well as our three Community- Based Outpatient Clinics, provide same-day services. As a tool for our customers, our average
wait times for completed appointments can be found at

https://www.va.gov/HEALTH/docs/DR70_052017_Retrospective_Wait_Times_Desired_Date_by_Division.pdf

The medical center is constantly in search of ways to meet the needs of our ever-evolving patient population to ensure our services mirror or exceed services available in the private sector. In line with that goal, Charles George VA Medical Center opened a new Sleep Disorders Clinic in January 2017, and a newly renovated Oncology and Infusion Center in February 2017. Looking forward, our new Outpatient Mental Health Building is scheduled to open in 2018.

When a Veteran or loved one calls our facility, our desire is for them to hear a warm and helpful voice on the other end. As an organization, we are working to improve responsiveness of our phone service by hiring Medical Support Assistant staff to support our call center. Also, call response time metrics continue to be monitored to allow leadership the opportunity to immediately address problems in service.

Talented and committed clinicians and staff are the fundamental reason why Charles George VA Medical Center is a great place to work and a great place for Veterans to receive care. To ensure we have the necessary support to meet VA’s mission, the medical center has initiated accelerating practices to recruit/hire healthcare professionals to fill key positions to expand access to care and services.

Care in the Community

To ensure timely access to care, Charles George VA Medical Center continues to work with our community partners to coordinate care outside the VA. We have an on-site HealthNet Escalation Specialist and a robust staff to ensure complex or urgent issues are addressed in an expedient manner. In addition, the organization is continuing efforts to optimize internal processes to enable Veterans referred for care in the community to be seen more expediently. The medical center is consistently working to improve customer service in our VA Care in the Community Office by establishing a stand-alone call center to assist our Veterans and community partners.

Suicide Prevention

Suicide Prevention is Dr. Shulkin’s top clinical priority. In keeping with this priority, the organization has expanded eligibility to provide care and stabilization to service members with an “Other Than Honorable” discharge who are experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of harm to self and/or others. Charles George VA Medical Center is committed to supporting and immediately implementing initiatives aimed at preventing Veteran suicides.

The Charles George VA Medical Center is proud to serve Veterans who reside in Western North Carolina and is consistently striving through continuous performance improvement to meet the needs of our valued patients. We are thankful to the many Veterans who have entrusted us with their health care and have made the Charles George VA Medical Center their health care provider of choice.