Report urges changes at VA Medical Center

Fort Wayne's sprawling VA Medical Center on Lake Avenue may close -- or greatly alter its services -- if a plan advanced this week is adopted.

The plan recommends ending surgical procedures at the facility and establishing an outpatient clinic instead. Veterans needing inpatient procedures and care would be routed to existing VA facilities outside Fort Wayne or to community-based hospitals under contracts.

The report to the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, known as AIR, recommends closing dozens of hospitals and clinics around the nation. The VA is facing a slew of aging buildings in need of modernizing, the report says.

Eric Clapp, vice president of Local 1384 of the American Federation of Government Employees union, said the report is preliminary.

But if enacted, the plan would likely result in lost jobs at the local facility and a negative economic effect on the Fort Wayne area, he said.

rsalter@jg.net