The VA's Big Makeover

摘要

After years of study and analysis, the Department of Veterans Affairs is poised to launch a far-reaching restructuring of its mammoth, $26 billion-a-year health care system. The impact will be felt by veterans and communities nationwide. The new organizational plan is titled "Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services," or CARES. It shapes up to be the most comprehensive overhaul of veterans' health care facilities ever conducted. The government has not yet reached decisions about every aspect of the CARES plan. In fact, VA officials and members of a blue-ribbon outside review commission were still struggling with key issues late in 2003. The expectation was the panel's findings would be decisive in VA decisions this year. Even so, the question is not whether there will be dramatic change, only when and in what specific ways. At present, the VA operates 163 major hospitals and some 5,000 other buildings on almost 20,000 acres of land.