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"If that's the closest hospital and it's a
life-and-death event," the VA secretary says.
TAMPA - Critically ill non-veterans can be taken
to any Department of Veterans Affairs emergency
room in the nation if it's the closest medical
facility, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said
Monday.
"If that's the closest hospital and it's a
life-and-death event, they should be brought
immediately to the VA's emergency facility,"
Nicholson told the St. Petersburg Times. "As
long as it's a life-threatening emergency.
Absolutely. If there's confusion about that, I'm
going to clarify that myself."
Nicholson's comments may alleviate uncertainty
that surfaced after the Bay Pines VA Medical
Center in St. Petersburg refused to treat a
non-veteran who suffered a heart attack June 26
about 200 feet from its emergency room. Mark A.
Surette, 51, later was pronounced dead at a
hospital 10 minutes away.
Bay Pines officials said that Surette's case was
an "aberration" and that a doctor thought he
fell ill while off VA property. Both the
VA and Pinellas officials had said Bay Pines
does not accept non-veterans who fall ill off VA
property. But during a 10-minute interview,
Nicholson offered no room for ambiguity: VA
doctors will treat severely ill non-veterans,
even if they fall ill off department property.
"That's a responsibility we have to any citizen,
and it's consistent with the Hippocratic Oath,"
Nicholson said. "I'm checking that out to make
sure it is VA policy, and if it isn't, it darn
sure will be." |
