Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 31, 1992 TAG: 9203310102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The ward is the one that held a veteran whose body was discovered last week hanging from a tree.
But Pat Clark, public information officer for the Salem center, said there was no correlation between the death of Leonard Cunningham and the closing of the ward.
In a memorandum, center Director Clark Graninger cited a need to close the ward - designated 9-1 - because of a lack of staff.
"Recently, Psychiatry has experienced a number of losses of nursing staff due to retirements," Graninger wrote. "Current recruitment efforts have not kept pace with the demand."
Announcement of the ward's closing comes three days after a review team from the VA central office ended its investigation into allegations of low employee morale, stressful working conditions and deteriorating patient care. An employees' union that made the complaints blamed the hospital's managers; management has tied the complaints to a move to a new $55 million clinical addition.
The review team's findings, which were to have been reported at the end of this week, now are not expected until next week, Lisa Respess, a public affairs specialist in Washington, D.C., said Monday.
In 1990, a review team that investigated complaints from nurses concerning staff shortages, reported that employees consistently cited workload and excessive use of overtime as a problem.
Clark said the staff on ward 9-1 will be reassigned to other areas. The patients will be reassigned to "appropriate wards."
Asked if some patients would be discharged, Clark said that when the time comes to move, "all patients will be assessed according to their medical status at that time."
Clark said she was not sure how long the ward would be closed. Graninger has the authority to close a ward for up to 30 days. He must apply for anything beyond that and has done so, Clark said.
"We will be reopening the ward once we've been successful in recruiting staff and replacing those who have retired," she said.
Cunningham's body was one of two found Wednesday on the grounds of the Salem medical center. Crews worked Monday to clear the pine thicket where the two bodies were found.
"We're focusing on that area," Clark said. "When that is completed, we'll do a review of the complete 220 acres [of hospital grounds]. We're looking at all the areas particularly in regards to visibility and accessibility."
Clark declined to comment on investigations into the patient deaths. She did say that the VA is conducting an internal investigation, that a medical "inspector was looking into it" and a "peer review" was being conducted by physicians outside the Salem VA.
by CNB