FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VA to Establish Federal Advisory Committee to
Implement CARES in the Canandaigua Area
“Establishment of a federal advisory committee to provide stakeholder input ensures a thorough and fair evaluation of stakeholder recommendations on how best to implement the CARES plan,” said Principi. The Secretary will utilize an outside contractor to complete these studies and plans.
The study contractor will identify and evaluate the most appropriate sites for the location of a new long term care complex and outpatient multi specialty clinic for providing care to veterans treated at the Canandaigua campus as described in the Secretary’s CARES Decision of May 2004. The plan will also identify options for divesting or leasing any current or future underutilized property in order to generate savings and revenues that could be applied to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA’s) health care mission. The mission of the Canandaigua campus will not be altered while VA proceeds with the study.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act enables the Secretary to ensure that a consistent formal stakeholder input process occurs at the CARES study sites. The federal advisory committee must have public meetings with official notices of the meetings, maintain records of proceedings and provide recommendations to the study contractor and the Secretary at key points in the study process.
The study recommendations, including stakeholder recommendations, will be reviewed by the VA Under Secretary for Health and CARES Implementation Board consisting of senior VA officials who will make a recommendation to the Secretary. The study will begin in December 2004 with the Secretary’s decision to be completed no later than December 2005.
The Secretary will appoint the committee from representatives of stakeholders such as veterans' service organizations, local government, community organizations, health care and business.
The CARES initiative calls for the modernization of VA facilities, expansion of outpatient services and other service delivery improvements. CARES will ensure that VA health care services are delivered in modern facilities that provide accessible state of the art health care and the effective use of VA campuses with unused space. CARES is the largest restructuring of the VA health care system in history. The CARES Planning Initiative was required to meet the changes in the VA health care delivery system caused by the migration of veterans, the growth in patient centered care provided in Community Based Outpatient clinics (CBOCs), the home and other community settings while providing high quality health care in modern facilities.
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