U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs visits Augusta

Dr. James Peake, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, says he’s talked with officials at hospitals here about the possibility of expanding medical care for wounded veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Peake toured the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center and the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta today.

He praised community efforts on the expansion, but stopped short of giving specifics on what role his agency would play, suggesting there may be other priorities to consider.

"We’re always re-assessing what we have as a mission requirement," Peake told reporters. "We’re talking about space issues today…about how to expand our primary care space to provide a separate portal for women. We’ve brought a gynecologist on board in the VA hospital, so that’s shifting and adjusting our mission to meet the need of our veterans."

Peake has previously pledged to improve health care for women veterans. The focus on women's care comes as a congressional report earlier this year said women don't get the same quality of outpatient care as men in several VA medical centers in the U.S. About 14 percent of veterans are women.

The Eisenhower and Charlie Norwood centers already treat many wounded troops. Medical personnel and community leaders want to build on that by increasing efforts in medical care and rehabilitation and subsequently bringing more wounded active duty troops here, making Augusta a hub for treating them.

They say coordinating medical services among all facilities here and getting federal dollars could potentially help relieve the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. That’s where many active duty troops go to recover from war injuries.

The Medical College of Georgia and the Joseph M. Still Burn Center are also among medical care facilities located in Augusta.

Medical College of Georgia study recommends expansion in multiple cities

A state-funded report released today says Medical College of Georgia must undertake a major expansion immediately, or else put the health of Georgians at risk.

It warns of a critical doctor shortage, and says medical education, research, and clinical missions must happen in multiple cities in Georgia at the same time to avoid that.

The report was presented to the state's Board of Regents in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Some key recommendations:

*Expand medical education at the college's main campus in Augusta by increasing class size of first year students. Consultants say the increase would give the main campus the largest number of medical students per capita nationwide.

*Open a new medical education and research campus in Athens.

*Provide expanded clinical rotations at campuses in Albany and Savannah.

*Increase the number of medical residencies statewide.

"Our medical needs are increasing. Our population growth is outpacing presently our physician resources and certainly our physician growth and this puts the economy of this state at risk" said Errol Davis, chancellor of the Board of Regents. "We have a plan that, if implemented, will ensure that Georgia is a state and remains a state that is healthy both for its citizens and for its businesses within the state."

The proposed satellite campus in Athens is one of the most controversial recommendations. Consultants urge MCG to open one soon.

They say the campus should be located on the property of a U.S. Navy Supply Corps school that is closing and transferring operations to Rhode Island.

Officials in Athens today welcomed the proposal, but some legislators in the Augusta area decried it.

"We're going to need the physicians, but if we try to do both at one time, we may not do both right, and I'd rather us expand here, grow Augusta, get to the capacity we can get at, educate doctors properly and do a quality job, and then if we have to expand, then take it to Athens for that satellite facility if that's what we decide we should do," said Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans).

Harbin's opinion is key. That's because he chairs the powerful House appropriations committee. And whether the Board of Regents approves the recommendations or not, the legislature in effect, has the final say, since they must approve funding for any expansion.

"We are going to fund expansion in Augusta, because it has to happen," said Harbin. "But Athens, we're going to look at it. There's going to have to be a case made right now. I'm not favorable to it...but I may can be persuaded."

Chancellor: Medical schools won't compete

What could be Georgia’s newest medical school won’t compete with plans to expand the Medical College of Georgia. That’s according to University System Chancellor Errol Davis. Lawmakers have expressed concerns about plans by Brenau University in Gainesville north of Atlanta to build Georgia’s 5th medical school. They have said it might compete with the Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia’s new campus in Athens. Chancellor Davis says Georgia needs as many medical schools as it can get because the state lags in training physicians.

Legislators Look at Cuts to Medical Research While Proposed Medical School Expansion is Safe

Georgia lawmakers are beginning their review of state budgets passed by both chambers of the legislature, trying in a conference committee to resolve differences between the two.

One issue is a proposed cut in medical research funding to the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

The state senate, in its budget passed today, included a $10 million cut in funding, with about half of that coming from a cancer research center at MCG. Officials say that could devastate the center.

Senator Ed Tarver (D-Augusta) wants the money restored. He says instead, the legislature should shelve the proposed expansion of the college, especially a proposed satellite campus in Athens.

But proponents of expansion say it's badly needed to stave off a doctor shortage.

The issue, therefore, raises a question...Which investment is better? Especially in a money crunch? It's one of the many hard decisions lawmakers will be hashing out this week over a budget that's full of cuts to state agencies, education and public services.

Tarver and some other Augusta-area lawmakers have been opposed to expansion. They do not want Augusta to lose resources to other cities, particularly Athens. Proponents, including Republican Governor Sonny Perdue, say it's the best way to bring medical students to the state, and then retain them when they become doctors.

The other $5 million would be cut from other medical research. The House, meanwhile, also proposed that cut but did not consider funding reductions to the cancer center.

Georgia gets near-failing grades in new emergency care report

A national report released today gives Georgia’s emergency medical care near-failing grades.

The American College of Emergency Physicians second National Report Card says Georgia’s got some serious medical homework to do: Georgia ranks 31st on the list, says ACEP President Dr. Nick Jouriles:

“The emergency care system is a ticking time bomb made worse by the financial crisis, and a failing nation’s healthcare system.”

Statewide, “failing” stands for an “F” in access to emergency care.

The report also gives the state C’s and D’s for too little disaster planning, and too few medical providers serving too many uninsured residents.

Doctor Matthew Watson is an emergency room physician at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital:

“By not having all of the different subtypes of physicians available, this limits our ability to care for the patients in a timely fashion.”

And in a bustling emergency room, that means,

"If patients come into the emergency department that we can’t provide the care for, then that’s going to slow down the next patient that needs to be seen, which is ‘domino effect,’ it’s just going to slow down the providing of care to all of the patients.

The report says more than 80 percent of the state’s residents live within an hour of a Level I or II trauma center.

Watson says, however, that part of the problem is getting doctors and other medical providers to work with limited equipment in many parts of the state:

“In rural areas, you simply don’t have the facilities that could support open-heart surgery, or any of the other specialties at a smaller rural hospital.”

The report has some bright spots: Georgia ranks first in the nation for patient access to substance abuse treatment services.

As well, liability reform laws also get high marks for limiting frivolous lawsuits and lowering medical liability insurance premiums.

The report, partly funded by The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation, recommends training more emergency doctors and residents, critical medical specialists, registered nurses, and primary care providers.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of health care issues.

Inmates Can Be Charged Medical Costs

Georgia prisons now have more power to charge inmates for their medical costs while behind bars. Governor Sonny Perdue signed a measure into law Tuesday that allows state and county corrections officials to draw up regulations to deduct the money for some medical costs from inmates accounts. It does not include costs related to pregnancies and chronic illnesses, which include diabetes, cancer and renal disease.

Prisons are constitutionally required to provide medical care to inmates. But the measure's sponsors say it is designed to help offset soaring prison medical costs for those inmates able to pay.

(Associated Press)

Board of Regents accepts Medical College of Georgia expansion plan

The Georgia Board of Regents has voted to accept a plan for expansion of the Medical College of Georgia.

It’s an effort to increase the number of doctors in Georgia…avoiding a critical shortage of them in the state, but it’s controversial.

The vote is not an approval of the plan. The Regents have simply chosen to review it. But it’s a clear signal that the Regents are supporting it.

Consultants developed their recommendations on expansion after a three month study.

The report calls for a significant expansion at the main campus in Augusta. It calls for a satellite campus in Athens. The number of clinical rotations in Albany and Savannah would also increase.

Lawmakers in Augusta want the expansion to happen at the main campus first. But Dr. Dan Rahn, MCG’s president, says he supports the plan.

"The physician workforce issues are statewide issues. The best opportunity to recruit physicians as future members of a medical community is to educate them within that medical community so we think we have a better chance of providing physicians around the state if we can educate them around the state," said Rahn.

Whatever the Regents decide, the fate of MCG’s expansion is ultimately in the hands of lawmakers, who must approve funding for any expansion.

UGA Readies for Medical Team

A team of scientists is ready to descend on the University of Georgia to comb over the preparations for the new medical campus scheduled to open next year. A good review by the Liaison Committee for Medical Evaluation could give the partnership between the Medical College of Georgia and UGA the go-ahead to begin recruiting students. UGA Provost Arnett Mace calls it a "very important visit." The committee is set to decide in June whether the college can expand its entering class by 40 students for the Athens campus in August 2010.

(Associated Press)

10th congressional district candidates spar over military service

As Election Day nears, the race for the tenth congressional district has taken a bitter turn with the Democratic challenger, Bobby Saxon, questioning the military service of the Republican incumbent, Rep. Paul Broun.

Saxon says Broun is misleading the public by saying he served in the Marine reserves in the "pre-Vietnam War era."

He says 20,000 American troops died in Vietnam during Broun's time in the Marines.

The two argued about Broun's service in an Atlanta Press Club debate at GPB's studios on Sunday.

"Will you look into the camera and tell the people of the tenth district why you misled them about your military record?" says Saxon.

"Bobby, you're so full of it," Broun replied. "You've not only impugned me, but every single person who served in the military who did not go to war."

Broun says he served in the active duty marine reserves from 1964-1967. Broun was serving when thousands of the casualties noted by Saxon happened. About 8000 of those deaths happened during his first three years. Broun was never deployed to Vietnam, although he says his unit eventually was.

In interviews with GPB, Broun has characterized his military service as beginning before things in Vietnam "got hot."

The war escalated with 11,000 American troop deaths in 1967, the year Broun started school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He says he changed his military commission to the Navy reserves because of school.

Broun strongly disputes any implications that he avoided the war or that his lack of combat experience renders him unqualified to be a congressman.

Broun says his decision to leave the marines was MCG's call, since a deployment would have interrupted his education.

"The medical school made me get out of active Marine reserves so I had a commission in the Navy as a general medical officer," Broun said in the debate.

But Dr. Lois Ellison, MCG's historian, says the school has never required students to avoid active duty.

"I can assure you that that has never been the case," says Ellison. She says the school allowed deferments to students if they were called up, and that the military badly needed medical personnel during the war.

But Ellison also adds that she cannot speak to what an individual, such as an advisor, might have personally said to Broun.

Ellison was unsure how many MCG students served in Vietnam.

Bobby Saxon is also a veteran, serving in the army and the national guard. He spent a year in Iraq as a combat battle major with the 3rd Infantry Division.

Saxon, meanwhile, released a video advertisement via YouTube today questioning Broun's service.

Georgia medical examiner under fire

Georgia’s medical examiner faces a lawsuit for allegedly harassing an expert witness. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports medical examiner Kris Sperry urged officials at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston not to allow one of their residents to testify. Dr. Kelly Rose is expected to testify there are problems with lethal injection. Sperry is the expert witness defending Georgia’s right to give a lethal injection to convicted killer Jack Alderman. Alderman’s lawyer filed the suit against Sperry Wednesday. Sperry denies threatening or intimidating anyone.

Medical College of Georgia responds to Augusta legislator's efforts to stop expansion in Athens

Toni Baker, a spokeswoman for the Medical College of Georgia, has released this statement in response to efforts by Senator Ed Tarver to stop MCG's planned expansion to Athens.

We appreciate Sen. Tarver's comments and his work to ensure the economic future of the state. MCG wants and needs to grow its School of Medicine to provide more physicians for our state. At the direction of the University System of Georgia and at the recommendation of expansion experts, Georgia's health sciences university is growing in all quadrants of the state: with focal points in Augusta, Athens, Savannah and Albany. We do not intend to lose positions in Augusta rather to expand significantly here - growing our medical student numbers from 190 per class to 240 along with concomitant increases in faculty numbers and research. This growth will require a new medical school building in Augusta and likely another research building as well. We look forward to continued work with Sen. Tarver and other members of the legislature on this important initiative for the health of our state, which currently ranks 41st in the nation in overall health indicators, according to the United Health Foundation.

Governor gets involved in flu shot flap

Georgians may find it harder and more expensive these days to get a flu shot through chain drug- and grocery stores. Flu vaccine shots may not be offered this year due to an uncovered Georgia law.

For over a decade, Georgia has had a law on the books that says flu vaccines need to be prescribed for distribution. NO one has really looked at it closely until this year, when a complaint came to the state medical board. Someone questioned whether it was enough for one physician to sign off on various pharmacies giving out flu shots. This practice is known as a ‘blanket protocol’. Dr. Jean Sumner is president of the Georgia Medical board.

"We are required to by law to investigate those complaints, and last year we received a complaint regarding the dispertion of flu shots by pharmacists. We interviewed the physician who had signed the protocol. We both acknowledged the law stated that was not legal. This has been a long-standing, established law that says the physician has to prescribe the flu shot. Therefore, he was citing protocols of some of the chain drugstores and elected not to do that anymore".

Without a protocol, drugstores and grocery stores without a practitioner or doctor could be violating Georgia law. Some have canceled their vaccine orders. Sumner says the Medical Board asked the Governor Perdue for help, but aside from a special session, nothing can be done until the next legislative session in January.

Governor Perdue issued a statement backing pharmacists, saying they should distribute flu shots just like they have in years past. The Governors' statement:

"This administration fully supports needed flu shots being safely dispensed to Georgians this flu season. For public health reasons, we believe it is imperative that pharmacists and others act as they have in the past. No statute or regulation has passed or was promulgated in the past 12 months that would change the ability of pharmacists to administer flu shots. No one has been prosecuted for delivering flu shots in the standard manner of past years. This administration will not call for sanctions against those acting in the best interests of Georgians and in a manner consistent with past practices. It is my expectation that healthcare professionals will act in the best interests of public health and continue prior practices."

Dr. Sumner says for the upcoming flu season, the change may simply be a change in venue. "Look around, get one from your doctor, get one from your health department, get one from the 'Minute Clinic'...from any provider that can prescribe. But you can't go to a clinic where there's not a provider or prescriber to issue the flu shot".
Click here for more GPB News coverage of medical issues.

New medical school a possibility

Georgia could get another medical school. Brenau University in Gainesville has hired a consulting firm to do a feasibility study on the idea. Georgia has four medical schools now – the Medical College of Georgia, Mercer, Emory and Morehouse. They get 1,100 applications a year but can only accept a fourth of that.

U.S. Senate lauds Augusta veteran services

This week the United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution commending Augusta’s service to veterans. The measure was introduced by Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. The resolution expresses gratitude to medical organizations and local healthcare personnel for working together to care for wounded warriors.

One example of this collaboration, medical staff from the Eisenhower Army Medical Center and the Augusta Department of Veterans Affairs have routinely met to discuss future patient cases for the Active Duty Rehabilitation Unit.

Since 2004, more than 1,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have received rehabilitation services at the Eisenhower medical facility.

Health care pros: Grady broke its promise

Health care advocates met in Atlanta today to address the widening health care disparities in minority populations. Of particular concern to some – how politics have shaped the allocation of medical services at one high profile hospital.

According to Dr. George Rust, the ratio of poor African Americans unable to access adequate and affordable health care has remained unchanged for nearly half a century. Rust directs the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine. All Morehouse medical students are required to do some clinical work at nearby Grady Memorial Hospital. But, Rust says Grady isn't delivering on its promise made in the 1890s. Namely, to serve the poor.

"We segregate health care for the poor and then we under fund it. We say we're going to create a separate system of care for the uninsured and then we're not going to adequately fund it. And what we're seeing is that when deliver care separately you get separate health outcomes and worse health outcomes."

Today it’s estimated that annually so-called segregated health care means 83,000 African Americans die at earlier ages of treatable and preventable diseases. Most experts agree lifestyle choices may be the root causes of treatable diseases like diabetes and obesity. But add, the lack of culturally sensitive medical personnel unfairly burdens some minority communities.

Veterans to be Tested for HIV and Hepatitis After Improper Sanitization at Medical Clinic

About 1200 military veterans need to undergo testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C after personnel at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center discovered that rhinoscopes at an ear nose and throat clinic were improperly sterilized.

The testing involves veterans who underwent procedures in which the rhinoscopes were used at the clinic between January and November, 2008. Officials at the VA center, in Augusta, say the risk of infection is extremely small.

The disinfectant used to clean the scopes during that time period was designed for surfaces such as exam tables, and not one recommended by the rhinoscopes' manufacturer, although chemical activity is similar, according to Dr. John Brice, chief of medicine and acting chief of staff at the medical center.

Doctors use the rhinoscopes to exam sinuses and the upper airway passages of patients.

Brice says an employee was apparently not trained properly on the cleaning procedures. He says the problem began when a nurse at the clinic left, and rapid employee turnover followed. The problem was caught during an annual review of procedures at the clinic. Brice says the center is stepping up training procedures and increasing reviews there to quarterly, at the least. He says an investigation into the matter is ongoing, and that scopes, at this time, are being cleaned at another location.

Brice says the issue was confined to the clinic, and did not happen at the hospital there.

The center is this week sending out letters to the veterans who were possibly exposed to infections.

The VA center has a hotline for the veterans. For more information, call (706) 731-7229 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekdays, or (800) 836-5561 after hours.

For more information from the VA, click here.

Navy supply corps school closer to relocating

The navy is apparently one step closer to relocating a supply corps school from Athens to Rhode Island.

It also comes closer to clearing the way for the Medical College of Georgia to possibly open a branch campus there.

The Athens Banner Herald is reporting that navy officials have signed a $24.5 million contract with a construction firm in Rhode Island. It includes plans to construct a new building and renovate an existing one in Newport.

The Athens school provides administrative, logistical and media training to sailors and Marines. Officials expect it to close it within three years.

Governor Sonny Perdue and officials in Athens want the property to be used as a branch campus of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

The proposal is controversial, though. Some community leaders in Augusta want any expansion of the medical school to happen at the main campus there.

U.S. Senators to Hold Hearings After Veterans Test Positive for Infections

A U.S. Senate committee will ask officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs how mistakes at three VA medical centers in the Southeast, including a clinic in Augusta, may have exposed veterans to infections such as HIV and hepatitis.

The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs has set a June 24 hearing for VA officials to explain how mistakes with endoscopic equipment possibly exposed patients to infectious body fluids in Augusta, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Miami.

The committee's announcement comes shortly after a U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs subcommittee announced it would hold its own hearing on June 16.

The VA has warned more than 10,000 former patients at the three medical centers to get follow-up blood checks. Five of the patients have tested positive for HIV so far, and 43 have tested positive for hepatitis.

In Augusta, the problem affected rhinoscopes in an ear, nose and throat clinic at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center. Officials in February said an employee improperly sterilized the rhinoscopes with disinfectant designed for exam tables instead of a stronger one specifically designed for the scopes.

A top doctor at the federal agency has stressed that the positive results for the diseases may not have come from hospital mistakes.

Medical College of GA gets funds to treat HIV

The Medical College of Georgia has new federal funds for HIV testing and education. The $5 million dollars provides medical care for 1,000 HIV patients, a third of whom are indigent. MCG’s School of Dentistry and Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior also participate in their care.

Police arrest alleged fake doctors

In northwest Georgia, Canton police have shut down a medical clinic they say was being run by fake doctors. Authorities say brothers Miguel and Raul Valez allegedly performed surgeries and filled prescriptions despite having no medical training. The duo are under investigation for their possible connection to operating other medical clinics in metro Atlanta.