Remodeled clinic a keeper, staffers say.

Byline: JOE MOSLEY The Register-Guard

This week's news of massive restructuring within the federal Department of Veterans' Affairs, including the likely closure of several little-used hospitals around the country, may have seemed a little off-key to users of the VA's outpatient clinic in Eugene.

Especially given the open house that was held Friday night to celebrate a newly completed remodeling of the 4-year-old facility.

"The remodel was because of demand for services," said Sharon Carlson, a VA spokeswoman for the area that includes the Eugene clinic as well as a hospital in Roseburg. "And preliminary studies look like it's pretty secure, for keeping those services in Eugene - possibly even expanding services."

The restructuring is a response to shifting national demographics - in particular, a migration of retirees from populous northern states to Sun Belt states in the South.

However, veterans' populations and usage of VA benefits will be assessed in deciding the future for each of the 163 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics and other facilities operated by the department nationwide, Carlson said.

For instance, officials for the Northwest district - the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska - will study trends in those states and then submit recommen- dations that will be considered before final decisions are made late in 2003, she said.

Carlson said the restructuring "makes a lot of sense," because veterans' populations have declined markedly in some areas of the country. But the number of veterans in Lane County is holding fairly steady at about 33,000, making it unlikely that services would be reduced here, she said.

The VA hospital in Roseburg also may be off the hook, Carlson said, primarily because of its location.

Department guidelines recommend that inpatient facilities be available within three hours or 300 miles of those receiving care. The next-nearest VA hospital is in Portland, so veterans in Southern Oregon and Northern California would be beyond the recommended range if the Roseburg hospital were to close.

Qualifying veterans can receive free outpatient medical and mental health care at the 16,200-square-foot Eugene clinic, which is staffed by about a half-dozen doctors and nurse practitioners, as well as psychiatrists and social workers.

Those requiring hospitalization or more specialized care are referred on to the hospitals in Roseburg or Portland.

"Due to the demand for services and increased costs of medical care and prescriptions, veterans are realizing they have their benefits and are using them," Carlson said.

The recent remodel of the Eugene clinic was more a reconfiguration than an expansion, with more space set aside for examination rooms that allow patients to rotate efficiently through the clinic.

"We had a time when the (examination room) space was limited, and doctors saw one patient in a room and then had to wait for the next," Carlson said.

"Now, a nurse is preparing and getting the patient ready in the next room."

The Eugene operation also has now been split between two buildings, with medical and mental health care remaining at the clinic on River Avenue just southeast of the Belt Line Road-River Road interchange.

Programs for homeless veterans, vocational rehabilitation and substance abuse were moved to a building on Bertelsen Road to accommodate remodeling at the clinic, and are now expected to remain there, Carlson said.

JAMES W. ADAMS EUGENE VA CLINIC

Location: 100 River Ave., a block east off River Road and just south of Belt Line Road

Telephone: [phone]

Services: Outpatient medical and mental health care

Eligibility: U.S. Armed Forces veterans with honorable discharges - those discharged after 1980 must have served 24 consecutive months