Does this hospital really need closing? VA hospital that once treated Civil War veterans could close

2015-07-03T09:02:39-04:00

Perched atop a bluff in the remote Black Hills, a veterans hospital built of thick blocks of pink sandstone and topped with red-tiled roofs in a Spanish mission style overlooks the tiny town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, and has provided recovering soldiers a bucolic haven for more than a century.

Wounded warriors from Civil War battles at Antietam and Gettysburg came to the Battle Mountain Sanitarium for brief, intensive treatments for musculoskeletal and respiratory conditions. Physicians believed the dry air and warm, fabled mineral springs helped mend broken soldiers. Today, veterans from the Vietnam to Iraq wars suffering from ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder and drug and alcohol abuse recuperate at this quiet retreat.

But this long tradition could soon end. Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs have proposed shuttering the campus and relocating some of its services 60 miles north to Rapid City, the second largest city in the state, leaving only an outpatient clinic in Hot Springs, which the state calls "The Veterans Town."

One of the key issues driving a wedge between the VA and the veterans fighting to keep the hospital open is its remote location. Does the isolation and serenity of Hot Springs help heal patients or hold them back?

"We have not seen any evidence that proves serene environment versus a more city-like environment changes the outcome of the patients," said Jo-Ann Ginsburg, the acting director for the VA in the Black Hills.

But many of the region's veterans argue that the tranquil environment in a town of 3,500 people is just as crucial to healing today as at the beginning of the 20th century and cannot be replicated outside Hot Springs.

VA officials counter that moving the services north to Rapid City would help attract physicians, better accommodate female and single-parent veterans and link patients with job opportunities and occupational training.

A consulting firm hired by the Black Hills VA is expected by the end of the summer to release a draft report on the impact the proposed relocation and several alternatives would have on local communities. After two months for public comment, the VA anticipates a final report recommending the best course of action to be announced in the spring of 2016, according to an internal VA email provided to The Associated Press.

Much of the hospital campus has changed little since it was opened in 1907 to treat veterans of the Civil War and Spanish American War. The hospital housed men who served with Union Major General John Pope at Bull Run and with Major General George B. McClellan during the Peninsula campaign, according to an account penned by Dr. W.H. Johnson, a national surgeon general of the Grand Army of the Republic, who wrote of the hospital following his stay there in 1913.

"As the sun came up, the tints and then the brilliant, glorious rays thrown upon the clouds stretched over the eastern horizon, gave a picture that the best artist with brush and paint could only imitate," Johnson wrote of his view each morning from the hospital veranda. "The healthful, rare, crisp mountain air helps to the completeness of the beautiful scene which I wish I could describe to my readers."

The hospital domiciliary is built like a wagon wheel made of thick pink sandstone hauled from a nearby quarry. In the center, surrounded by massive columns, patients relax, read and smoke cigarettes outdoors in the sun and in peace.

Paul Kelly, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1970s, entered the sanitarium in the early 2000s after battling drug abuse for years and overdosing on cocaine three times.

"If they build something new, it's going to be so clinical and so sterile," he said. "It could never be duplicated."

Kelly, who had been through rehabilitation centers elsewhere, was so taken with the place that he later moved to the town. Now, he's a student at Mitchell Technical Institute in central South Dakota and hopes to become a motorcycle mechanic.

Curt Sandine, a veteran treated for PTSD at the domiciliary beginning in 2011 said the town is just as therapeutic as the mountain environment.

"Everybody in town knows who's in the programs and who's not; the community itself kind of looks after the VA patients," he said.

Sandine is part of the "Save the VA" organization, a group of veterans from the region who have been petitioning the Black Hills VA and the federal government for years to keep the facilities open.

In May, the group led a march through Hot Springs and picketed the hospital campus for a week, protesting the proposed closure.

There is merit to both sides of the argument over the hospital, said John Klocek, the director of the psychology clinic at Baylor University, who has studied and worked with veterans for years, including at a VA hospital.

While Klocek agreed with the VA that there is no proof treatment is better in tranquil environments, "we know that even from just everyday experience that being in an environment that is quieter reduces the amount of stimulation coming in; it helps folks relax and focus on what's at hand."

But he added that the access to employment and opportunities to help veterans re-enter society is also crucial.

Former patient Kelly said he knows the hospital helped him, whether the scientific data proves it or not.

"The place saved my life, I'll tell you that."

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/va-hospital-that-once-treated-civil-war-veterans-could-close-1.356161

Response by SSG John Erny made Jul 3 at 2015 9:05 AM

2015-07-03T09:05:07-04:00

Hell no that is the one that I use and it is a great medical facility with a caring staff! They make the rest of the VA look bad, must be why they want to shut it down.

As far as being in a remote location I call BS it is in a central location supporting many people from the large rural land scape that is home to a large number of veterans, many of whom are native Americans. Many veterans from western Nebraska prefer to use Hot Springs of the nearer Cheyenne Wyoming facility because it is more typical of a VA facility, you are a number.

The campus is beautiful and relaxing surrounded by the Black Hills and the town is very easy to find your way around in. Between appointments one can go outside and relax, it is like being in mountain park. Something tells me that developers want to get their hands on the place for their own financial gain.

There is also no need for a VA facility in Rapid City, there is a huge facility just North in Sturgis called FT Mede, it is also very nice and is a former Army Post and still trains some National Guard Soldiers. FT Meade also is a great and caring facility. It is perhaps a 20 minute drive. It takes longer than that to find your way around Rapid City if you do not know the town, it winds and bends to conform with the mountains.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

CC: SFC Mark Merino MAJ Private RallyPoint Member MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" Sgt David G Duchesneau LTC Stephen F. CPL Doug Hill

Response by SGT Forrest Stewart made Jul 3 at 2015 9:23 AM

2015-07-03T09:23:28-04:00

What a beautiful hospital! Would just be wrong to shutter it.

Response by SCPO Lee Pradia made Jul 3 at 2015 9:49 AM

2015-07-03T09:49:17-04:00

They're not demolishing the building, it's in a remote area probably costing them an arm and a leg to maintain. Not to mention trying to keep the place staffed in a town of 3500 people. The greatest good for the greatest number, that's why their moving to the second largest city in the state. Because the hospital has been around since the Civil War is not a valid argument for the VA to keep it opened. All I read was an article that talked about the historical significance of the building and how it helps people with PTSD relax because of its remote location, but nothing about how much money it costs to maintain the property and pay a staff to operate in a remote location. There is so much emotion in the story, people are not seeing the logic.
To keep a hospital opened that does not provide multiple services for a large population is a money pit and that is not cost effective.
I relax my fishing, model railroading, astrophotography and long drives. This doesn't work for all, but it works for me.
Close the place, build a new one to help more vets.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jul 3 at 2015 10:30 AM

2015-07-03T10:30:58-04:00

I see both sides of the issue. But wouldn't it also be more cost effective to expand the existing facility rather than build a new one? We already know the VA's tract record for building new medical centers!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 3 at 2015 5:27 PM

2015-07-03T17:27:05-04:00

The ink may not be dry on the "report" yet, but given that the consulting firm is being paid directly by the VA as opposed to an oversight agency OMB or CBO, the result is all but a foregone conclusion.

Response by PO1 Glenn Boucher made Aug 29 at 2015 7:58 PM

2015-08-29T19:58:52-04:00

The only criteria that should be used to determine if a facility should close or not is if it is still viable and effective in treating its patient base. If its doing a good job and not having to send people away for basic treatments then keep it open and look for the inefficient places to close.
Really trying to save a place for sentimental reasons, while nice, is not practical.

Response by Sgt Christopher Collins made Nov 23 at 2015 9:38 PM

2015-11-23T21:38:51-05:00

That's the VA for ya... they know more than us Veterans since we know nothing.