VA secretary visits Sioux Falls VA hospital after recommendations to close South Dakota facilities

Denis McDonough, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, visited the Sioux Falls VA hospital Wednesday amid upheaval at the facility in recent months.

Some employees allege that under former VA director Lisa Simoneau, there was a environment of hostility and retribution. Furthermore, some veterans say they had issues getting the care that they needed in a timely manner as part of the care in the community program.

All of that culminated in a January town hall with Simoneau and Sen. Mike Rounds where veterans voiced their displeasure with the VA. Simoneau was later removed from her position in April.

But in March, a federal report titled the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR), recommended the closure of the Sioux Falls VA Hospital's emergency room as well as the shuttering of the Fort Meade and Hot Springs VA Hospitals.

"I'm here for a lot of reasons, but I'm here in particular now because I've had a very good —  let's call it frank and candid conversation with Senator Rounds going back a couple of months, where he had raised with me some concerns that he is hearing from vets in the community here," McDonough said.

More: Sioux Falls veterans say VA program isn't getting them the critical care they need

Vets and VA employees protest recommended closures

Before McDonough made his scheduled remarks ahead of the annual 2-K walk, members of the Sioux Falls VA AFGE Local 1509 employee union and veterans protested the recommended closures.

One veteran who seeks treatment at the Sioux Falls VA hospital said that the emergency room is "state of the art."

"(The emergency room) for us and especially our older veterans is an easy button place to go and get emergency care," George Arends, 64, a retired National Guardsman, said. "I just recently used it here not too long ago, got great care. Some of the people that took care of me I've deployed with."

Clarence Kooista, 81, said that he's used the Sioux Falls VA since he returned from his Marine deployment in Vietnam.

"There's nothing better than the VA," he said, adding that if he's seen at the ER at the VA, doctors are able to pull his entire patient history, which might not be the case if he was treated at Sanford Health or Avera Hospital.

Previously: Recommendations call for cutting some Veterans Affairs services in South Dakota, including Sioux Falls

Sandra Gunderson, a former respiratory therapist with the VA and now the AFGE union chapter president, said she worries about the proposed change of the ER into an urgent care clinic.

"It's not really going to provide emergency care, and then those patients would go out to the community," she said. "And so then when they're in the community, at the ER, they're not going to send them back here to the VA if they're admitted or need care, they're going to keep them there. We lose that veteran that we want to have here to care for."

The Sioux Falls VA ER wouldn't be the only healthcare system impacted by the recommended closures. The Wagner VA Clinic has also been recommended to shutter, leaving Native veterans to either seek care with the Indian Health Services clinic or make the two-hour drive to Sioux Falls, according to the report.

"I helped veterans accrue their benefits so I know how important the Wagner area is for their health care in that region," Arends said. "I mean, we talk about food deserts, we could end up with a health care desert in that area for our veterans."

More: VA administrators hear from frustrated veterans

Report data was outdated, McDonough says

The AIR recommendations were part of the 2018 Mission Act that required an assessment of the current and future health care needs of veterans across the United States.

The review of the South Dakota VA system, both east river and west river, were completed in 2019, prior to the pandemic, according to the report.

When McDonough took over the AIR process in 2021, he said he recognized that the report data was "dated," especially considering how much the pandemic had changed healthcare.

But he was required by the Mission Act to release the report, even after healthcare professionals, VA professionals and Government Accountability Office along with others had all agreed the report data needed to be improved.

"(Over) the course of the last year and a half I was looking for if there's ways under the statute for me to not actually publish the recommendations," he said. "This law was very clear. I needed to release those recommendations January of this year."

More: Rep. Dusty Johnson, veterans say regime change, reduced wait times at Sioux Falls VA not enough

'Morale is pretty low'

Gunderson said that over the past few years, VA leadership has caused problems for employees.

"I just think it's been a different culture, as far as the treatment of our employees and the respect that they deserve also, many of them being veterans, and the care that they're giving, I think that could definitely be improved," she said. "The morale is pretty low."

Gunderson said that she was able to speak with McDonough as well as representatives from Senator Rounds' and Senator Thune's teams.

Since Simoneau left, there have been new hires in the care in community program, allowing veterans to get faster access to care that they need, Gunderson said.

"But they're shifting the work here and there and offering a lot of overtime to complete that work, which I don't think is sustainable," she said. "They're already burnt out because it's so busy."

More: Sioux Falls veterans hospital accused of retaliating against whistleblowers

McDonough said from increasing pay to increasing retention opportunities, he and his team are looking at ways to improve staff morale by listening to what VA employees need.

"I want them to know that I hear them," he said. "We're going to get to the bottom of these issues and make sure that they have what they need.

Charles Jennings started at the care in community program three months ago after having worked at the VA in Dallas, Texas. He said that the biggest change was the staffing available for care in the community, where in Dallas there was a team of 50 versus in Sioux Falls when he started it was 11.

"We've just been hiring more people to help with that so we can feel like we're giving our veterans what they deserve," the 29-year-old said.

Follow Annie Todd on Twitter @AnnieTodd96. Reach out to her with tips, questions and other community news at atodd@argusleader.com or give her a call at 605-215-3757.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: VA secretary visits Sioux Falls after report recommends closure