VA recommends increasing its number of ASCs

Editor's Note

On March 14, the Biden administration released a recommendation via the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to restructure the VA healthcare system. OR Manager reported on the potential impact the recommended changes would have on VA services, which include older hospitals with unused inpatient beds being replaced by both inpatient and outpatient clinics.

Alongside these proposed changes, the Department of Veterans Affairs also proposed an increase in the number of its ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), Becker’s March 15 ASC review reports. The recommendation entails “nearly doubling” VA ASCs, from 16 to 30 centers, and “each housed in larger facilities that provide primary care, mental healthcare, and other outpatient specialty services.”

The demand for outpatient services continues to grow, and Becker’s highlights that the increased demand is also present in the veteran patient population. The VA's proposed recommendations would see “the number of multispecialty community-based outpatient VA clinics” increase from 248 to 388, and see overall accessibility to healthcare services improve for over 500,000 veterans, said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in the report.

The recommendations are set to be reviewed by the upcoming Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission; no determinations will be made prior to early 2023.