Protesters demand Veterans Affairs emergency room reopen in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- A few dozen protesters, made up of Veterans Affairs workers and union members representing employees of the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, carried signs and chanted at the VA's entrance on Ramsey St. Thursday afternoon. They demanded the VA's emergency room reopen after administrators closed its doors in September.
But VA officials said the ER was closed for good reasons.
"I would hope that, much like me, their first concern would be the safety of our veteran patients," said Jeff Melvin, Fayetteville VA Medical Center Spokesperson.
The VA told veterans and employees in September, the closure was due to contractors failing to provide enough qualified ER doctors to properly staff Fayetteville's Emergency Dept. A 12-hour urgent care clinic was opened in its place, but many veterans say it's not enough.
"I have used this VA and even though the emergency dept. had problems, you waited a while, at least it was there," said veteran Sherry Holverson.
"I mean I would be willing to come down here if there was a shortage," said Dr. James Martin, ER Physician at the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center in Chicago. "We can do this. I mean, we can have a national emergency medicine group of VA physicians that would come and fill in when we needed it."
But Melvin said unless doctors are willing to relocate to Fayetteville and keep this ER running around the clock, the VA is not interested.
"We'd be as happy as they are to open up that ER," said Melvin. "I mean, what we do here is provide care to veterans. That's our sole purpose for being here." He added the VA will not reopen the ER unless it's safe for veterans seeking care. "If it was as simple as they scream and we open up the doors, but it doesn't happen like that.
