The acting director of the Altoona Veterans Hospital says he’s pretty proud of the speed at which area vets are receiving treatment. During a roundtable meeting Wednesday with reporters and congressional aides, Charles Becker reviewed a report showing that nearly 100 percent of veterans throughout the region received medical attention within 30 days, after requesting it.
Becker said the average wait was under a week and that the access to treatment compares favorably with other VA hospitals, and regular hospitals.
“The numbers on our access are absolutely accurate. They’re all retrospective, they look at after the fact, they look at our scheduling system to determine when the veteran had requested the care and when the care was actually provided,” Becker explained.
Becker also gave an update on constructions and renovations underway at the Van Zandt VA Medical Center. He said $50 million dollars worth of construction is planned for the site. Future projects include expansion of specialty care for veterans. Updates include replacements of boilers and other aging equipment.
Construction is underway now on a 150 space parking garage, across from the Urgent Care Center. It will lead to temporary road closures and detours to both Fairway Drive and the main entrance of the VA Medical Center from July 18 through the end of August due to construction of the new VA parking garage. The re-routing will occur daily from approximately 6:00 a.m. to 5:00, Monday through Friday, and possibly Saturdays.
The VA says, Fairway Drive be completely closed only once , for 2-4 hours for the dissemble process of the crane. That date will be determined later. Starting the first week of August the major restrictions of traffic flow will be impacted for the final phases of the project.
