Hunter
03/18/22
Sweeping new plans by the Biden Administration for the VA to reposition itself to better serve its patients in the coming years means good news for the Iowa City facility.
Although the proposal includes shuttering hospitals and clinics across the country, the Gazette reports that the VA Health Care System in Iowa City will only not close, but expand.
The facility would be approved to build a new 30-bed residential rehabilitation and treatment program to provide mental health services and to invest in a partnership to expand long-term care services in a new community living center.
The proposal also recommends sustaining the level of the highly-specialized and complex care offered at the Iowa City VA Health Care System.
Although local demand for inpatient medical and surgical services is expected to decrease over the coming years, the demand for inpatient mental care is expected to increase over six percent. Demand for long-term care is expected to increase by nearly 65 percent by the end of the decade, given that the patient population is aging.
Jamie Johnson, the public affairs officer for the Iowa City VA, says the hospital is converting a 14-bed unit into an inpatient psychiatric unit to help fill the gap before they find a site to construct a stand-alone residential facility. Construction on that project isn’t expected to begin until 2026.
Here’s a link to the VA recommendation report:
https://www.va.gov/AIRCOMMISSIONREPORT/docs/VISN23-Market-Recommendation.pdf