Montana VA: Physician turnover won't impact services

Despite an upcoming slate of changes in primary care staff, the Montana Veterans Affairs is assuring veterans and their families that health services will not be impacted.

In a Thursday press release responding to “numerous inquiries regarding primary care provider vacancies,” Dr. Kathy Berger, director of the Montana VA Health Care System, disputed reports of widespread unavailability of primary health-care providers at the VA hospital at Fort Harrison, near Helena, and in other VA community clinics across the state.

“Although primary care provider staffing is always fluid, I am confident that we have what we need to serve our veterans through direct care, telehealth, or community care at all of our locations,” she said.

The press release also spelled out upcoming personnel changes in primary care providers for the VA. The VA measures staffing requirements in “full-time equivalent employees” (FTEE), or the amount of physicians working 40-hour weeks needed to cover the VA’s caseload.

According to the press release, the VA currently requires 37.1 FTEE providers; as of Feb. 9, 38 primary care providers work enough combined hours to cover 33.45 FTEE. Another eight providers, who comprise 5.5 FTEE, have given notice to the VA that they will leave or reduce their hours in the coming weeks.

Mike Garcia, a spokesperson for the Montana VA, elaborated on these changes to the Daily Inter Lake on Friday. He stressed the difference between a loss of FTEE and changes in status to individual providers, which would result in some shifting of responsibility, but not a reduction in services.

“A loss [in a provider] is not necessarily a loss and a loss does not necessarily equate to one FTEE,” he said. “It’s very important to distinguish between the FTEE that may be departing or reducing versus the individual persons.”

Garcia pointed out that the staff changes are two-fold; some of the eight providers are leaving, while others are changing their association to the VA. He cited a physician in Kalispell who is shifting her practice to part-time work as an example. “We’re losing her as a full-time employee, but she’s going to treat veterans on a fee basis,” he said. This would change her employee status at the VA but not impact care for veterans, said Garcia.

Garcia said that as these providers leave or reduce their practices, 10 new providers will begin providing services between March and May of this year.

Primary care at the VA is a “very fluid environment where we’re constantly assessing gaps and filling them in,” though at this time there’s “no gap caused by known losses that we’ve been made aware of,” Garcia said.

Garcia confirmed that there are two primary care vacancies currently open with a recruitment process in place: one in Billings, and the other at Fort Harrison. He also said that telehealth providers both in and out of state would step up to fill any gaps in coverage that may arise.

It is unclear how these staffing changes would impact VA patients in the Flathead Valley, if at all. The Kalispell VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic cited a no-media policy when reached for comment on Friday.

Reporter Adrian Horton can be reached at ahorton@dailyinterlake.com or at 758-4439.