Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994 TAG: 9401150105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Although the VA can't stop all psychiatric and other high-risk patients from leaving medical centers, "VA can and should take steps to reduce the number of such incidents that are occurring," the General Accounting Office said.
Sens. Charles Robb, D-Va., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., asked GAO to investigate after two patients were found dead at the Salem, Va., VA center in 1992. A third body was found later.
The congressional investigative office said almost all of those patients who disappear are eventually found, although in the 1990-92 period studied 34 were found dead, 19 were injured and 25 remained unaccounted for nine months later.
The Veterans Affairs Department "must identify patients who have the potential to leave without permission early in their hospital stay, and these patients must be closely monitored either through direct staff observation, electronic detection devices or both," it said.
The GAO staff visited five VA medical centers, including the one in Salem, and found none "is taking sufficient steps to preclude high-risk patients from leaving."
It said high-risk patients are those who are legally committed, have a legal guardian, are considered to be a danger to themselves or others, or lack the cognitive ability to make decisions.
The study concluded that 39 of the Veterans Affairs Department's 158 medical centers have significant problems with unauthorized patient departures.
The report found that 114 searches for patients were conducted at the Salem center during the two years studied, tenth-highest in the nation.
The GAO report said VA officials generally agreed with its recommendations but said the conclusions overstate the missing persons issue in the VA system, which in fiscal 1992 handled more than 935,000 inpatients.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.