HOUSTON – On Wednesday, The Michael E. Debakey VA medical center (MEDVAMC) welcomed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Donald Remy on tour at the facility’s new transplant unit and remodeled cancer center.
The care that’s given here is critical since it can save more veteran lives than those who seek care at a non-VA, according to a new study by Stanford.
“That is the case because our clinicians, our community, are trained to deal with veterans and their unique circumstances and challenges. I believe the best medical care provided in America today is provided through our VA system. Yes, there are times when people need to go to the community, but I think our veterans want to come to VA and want to receive the care that we provide them because we understand them,” said U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Donald Remy
They can’t give that care without a top-notch staff. Houston VA Director, Frank Vasquez, said recruiting and maintaining staff is a challenge beyond the pandemic since they’re recruiting against some of the biggest hospitals in the world at the Texas Medical Center.
When asked if Congress will provide more funding for recruitment, Congressman Al Green said he will.
“We got to make sure we compete with the largest medical center in the world, and we can, by the way, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. We can do it. We just have to have the will and we’ll get it done,” Green said.
Here are some things discussed during the deputy secretary’s visit that Houston VA has accomplished during the pandemic:
• In 2021, Houston VA opened two additional community-based outpatient clinics in Humble and Sugar Land to bring care closer to where our Veterans live. We now have 11 clinics and our main medical center.
• In 2021, Houston VA had a record number of patients encounters (over 2 million). We serve more than 120K Veterans.
• Houston VA researchers have been heavily involved in cutting-edge research throughout the pandemic. MEDVAMC is one of five sites of a VA and CDC national surveillance platform called SUPERNOVA for Surveillance, Platform for Enteric and Respiratory Infectious Organisms. The results of the SUPERNOVA platform were used by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACIP formulated the CDC recommendations about booster shots of the COVID vaccine using the results of this study.
• MEDVAMC was recognized as the 2021 NDNQI Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality for Academic Medical Centers, an award given annually to the best performing hospitals in clinical categories, including nurse-sensitive clinical indicators, RN turnover, RN education and RN Satisfaction.
• In 2021, MEDVAMC became the first VA to offer Veterans MAKO robotic surgery technology for hip replacements. This minimally invasive technology fast-tracks veteran recovery and improves patient outcomes.
• In 2021, MEDVAMC added a surgical robot named ROSA to the surgery team. ROSA guides surgeons as they perform brain surgery to identify the causes of veterans’ seizures.
• In 2020, MEDVAMC quickly pivoted to virtual during the pandemic without skipping a beat. In FY21, we had 2.18 million encounters serving more than 119,000 unique visits. Surpassing our pre-pandemic levels of care.
• In 2021, MEDVAMC opened a brand-new Transplant Unit on the 4th floor of the main medical center. The beautifully remodeled space includes exam rooms, consult rooms, staff rooms, a conference/patient education room and many other support spaces.
•In 2021, MEDVAMC broke ground on a new VA domiciliary, located just a few miles from the medical center. Veterans with medical care and rehabilitation services in a residential and therapeutic setting. The Dom will be specially tailored for veterans challenged by medical conditions, psychiatric disorders, or physical injuries who do not need hospitalization or nursing home care. Our new Dom will have 46 beds, a number which will be devoted specifically to women Veterans.
• Since December of 2020, MEDVAMC has administered more than 170,000 doses of the COVID vaccine to Veterans, employees, and spouses.
• Houston VA is employing many strategies to improve our Veteran access to care, including a huge emphasis on virtual care. Our Veterans are using VA Video Connect and speaking with their providers from the comfort of their homes.
