Omaha VA hospital needs renovation, VA chief says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10354119

Published Monday June 9, 2008
Omaha VA hospital needs renovation, VA chief says
BY TIM ELFRINK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Omaha's VA Medical Center would need major renovations to meet the future medical needs of veterans in the region, the secretary of the Veterans Affairs said Monday after touring the 57-year-old hospital with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and Rep. Lee Terry.

A federally funded, $500,000 study would be the next step in deciding whether to renovate the aging building or to construct a new hospital for the area, said Dr. James Peake, the VA secretary.

For the study to get federal funding, Peake would have to rank the Omaha hospital's construction and renovation needs in the top 10 nationally for VA structures. After Monday's tour, he said he saw firsthand the need for renovations at the hospital.

"It is an old facility, you don't have to be an engineer to figure that out when you walk around and see it," Peake said. "Medicine has changed and we need to be forward thinking, not about what we need today but about what we need tomorrow."