TOMAH, Wis. (WSAU) — Tomah’s VA Medical Center released a 100-day plan Friday. Public Affairs Director Matthew Gowan says this is, “a bridge from our successful 30-Day Plan to our Strategic Direction document.” Gowan says the 100-day plan will focus on four areas, including rebuilding trust with Veterans, employees and other stakeholders through transparency and accountability. It will also address access to care issues, employee engagement, and best practices.
The 100-Day Plan document has several goals highlighted on the document released Friday:
- Continue to work psychiatric staffing issues for the Acute Psychiatry Inpatient Services unit.
- Charter the Medical Center Access Committee.
- Launch three recruiting initiatives designed to attract mental health providers to Tomah and primary care providers to our Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC).
- Explore expansion of operating hours at the Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids CBOCs.
- Assess the Community Living Center Bed Management Plan for the next two years by January 29, 2016.
- Expand the Optometry Clinic at the Wisconsin Rapids CBOC.
- Partner with Madison VA Hospital to recruit a shared Infectious Disease provider.
- Expand Home‐Based Primary Care services at the Wisconsin Rapids CBOC.
The Tomah VA Medical Center has been under scrutiny since last January when whistleblowers and veteran’s family members exposed problems with the over-prescription of opiate pain killers, including a mixture of medications responsible for the death of Stevens Point veteran Jason Simcakoski in 2014. Tomah’s Chief of Staff David Houlihan and the VA center’s director, Mario DeSanctis, have both been terminated. The Tomah VA Medical Center and its outpatient clinics in La Crosse, Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids and Clark County provide care to more than 26,000 Veterans in Wisconsin and Minnesota each year.