Changes not immediate at Vet Center

Significant changes being made in the level of medical care provided to Oklahoma veterans have so far not been implemented at the Clinton Veterans Center, but an Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) spokesman didn’t rule out the possibility for the future. 
Full-time physicians are no longer on staff at four of the state’s seven veterans centers. Instead, ODVA has contracted physicians who will be on-call for the Lawton, Norman, Talihina and Ardmore centers. Staffing in Clinton, Claremore and Sulphur remains unchanged, said ODVA public information officer Shane Faulkner. 
The physician-staffing changes came to light recently during the same week in which a damaging 75-page audit of ODVA was released by State Auditor Gary Jones. 
“The only way we’re implementing the changes right now is when physicians leave,” Faulkner said. “For instance we couldn’t find a physician down at Talihina so that’s why we’re doing it there. And the physicians at Norman and Lawton resigned, so we implemented it there.
“We don’t anticipate anyone resigning from the Clinton center so I don’t think that’s something we’re looking to do. We’re very happy with the physicians that are there, so Clinton doesn’t seem to be on the horizon for that change.”
Faulkner insisted that the staffing changes being made at other facilities wouldn’t affect residents’ care, but he was unable to provide information on how many on-call contract physicians have been hired and how many facilities and/or residents each would oversee. 
Nursing staff will continue to be on-site 24/7 at each veterans center. 
According to Clinton Veterans Center director Brenda Jarrell, medical staff here      includes an M.D. and two “mid-level” medical providers, a nurse practitioner and a physician’s assistant. Besides the M.D. being asked to oversee mid-level medical providers at other facilities, so far no other changes have been made here.