Veterans Affairs Department: Limited Surgeries Performed

Posted: May 6, 2010 2:24 PM by Melissa Canone
Updated: May 6, 2010 2:24 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Veterans Affairs Department is limiting
the types of surgeries performed at some of its hospitals following
a review of surgical deaths at its hospital in southern Illinois.
Under a new system, the VA has given each hospital a "surgical
complexity" level. Because of that, hospitals in at least five
states - Louisiana, West Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois and
Washington state - will now only perform less-complicated
surgeries.
The VA will pick up the tab for patients who have surgeries
performed elsewhere.
In 2007, inpatient surgeries in Marion, Ill., were suspended
after a patient bled to death following a gallbladder surgery.
Investigators later determined that multiple deaths resulted from
substandard care at the hospital.

Topics: Veterans, Affairs, Department, Limited, Surgeries, Performed