{"id":57422,"date":"2020-03-13T18:01:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T18:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/13\/va-insists-it-can-handle-coronavirus-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:54:21","slug":"va-insists-it-can-handle-coronavirus-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2020\/03\/13\/va-insists-it-can-handle-coronavirus-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"VA insists it can handle coronavirus pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/03\/03\/va-stepping-up-coronavirus-monitoring-at-medical-facilities\/\" target=\"_blank\">coronavirus cases in the Veterans Affairs<\/a> medical system continues to rise, lawmakers are asking whether officials are fully prepared for the numerous challenges ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA leadership has already insisted they are, and in a message to veterans said they coordinating their efforts with other federal agencies to \u201cprotect the health of everyone who visits or works at one of our facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Friday morning, at least 16 patients connected to 10 different VA medical centers nationwide have tested positive for the coronavirus or are awaiting confirmation but presumed to be infected.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/03\/10\/va-locks-down-nursing-homes-to-prevent-covid-19-infections-department-tracking-six-cases\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6306149895_d344c8fc17_o.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA locks down nursing homes to prevent COVID-19 infections; department tracking six cases<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">VA is hoping the Draconian measures will protect more than 65,000 vulnerable veterans from infection.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nationwide, more than 1,200 individuals in 42 states have been infected, and at least 36 have died. Numerous public school systems and universities have closed down for the next few weeks, and large conferences, professional sports and entertainment events have been cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, VA officials responded to congressional inquiries about the coronavirus response saying they did not need any additional funding or authorities to bolster their medical response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nationwide the system has about 900 isolation beds that could be used to quarantine patients with the illness, although two-thirds of those are in use by patients with other health problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, department officials announced that all VA nursing homes and spinal cord injury and disorder centers will have a \u201cno visitor\u201d rule in an effort to limit the virus spread. All other VA medical centers have been screening visitors for the last few weeks for signs of illness, and barring some individuals from medical campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, with the number of coronavirus cases increasing, a group of 12 senators is asking VA leadership to offer more public detail on their response planning, including weekly updates on medical supply levels, testing protocols and staff health updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe recognize that the COVID-19 outbreak is an evolving situation, with a growing impact on the U.S. and global community, and want to ensure that the VA has all of the resources needed to keep veterans, staff and communities safe,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In particular, the group of lawmakers questioned whether the department can handle increased staff and testing demands without extra money, since \u201cVA did not request or receive additional funding in the coronavirus supplemental funding package.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/03\/04\/va-announces-first-veteran-coronavirus-case-patient-hospitalized-at-va-palo-alto\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635951245827675228-va-palo-alto-health-care-system-3-jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA announces first veteran coronavirus case; patient hospitalized at VA Palo Alto<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A California man confirmed to have COVID-19 was hospitalized at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement Friday, VA Press Secretary Christina Mandreucci said that VA facilities \u201care equipped with essential items and supplies to handle an influx of coronavirus cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVA has proactively implemented appropriate measures to ensure the safest health care environment for each veteran, visitor and employee,\u201d she said. \u201cThese measures include multi-channel outreach to veterans and staff, clinical screening at VA health care facilities, as well as protective procedures for patients admitted to community living centers and spinal cord injury units.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, officials on the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee are pushing colleagues on a series of legislative priorities to help deal with the crisis, including plans to eliminate co-payments for certain medical appointments related to the illness and extend GI Bill housing stipends for students whose colleges are shifting to online-only classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs the Department of Veterans Affairs considers its own preventive measures, it is important that Congress and this committee actively work to ensure VA has the required resources to carry out these tasks,\u201d chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials are posting their latest system information on the virus \u2014 as well as advice for patients planning on accessing department medical facilities in coming weeks \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/VHAEMERGENCYMANAGEMENT\/OEM_About.asp\" target=_blank>on their web site.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawmakers want more details on the department&#8217;s virus response and whether more money will be needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,65,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3328],"class_list":["post-57422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OHM4OYW35FAT5KJA4DXSJ52HOI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/03\/13\/va-insists-it-can-handle-coronavirus-pandemic\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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