"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."