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A new bill in Delaware means more veterans will get the surgeries they
need within Delaware’s Veteran Administration hospital. The new bill,
Senate Bill 269, addresses Delaware’s surgeon shortfall at the Veterans
Affairs Medical Center in Elsmere. The current shortage is requiring
patients to travel to VA centers in nearby states like Maryland and
Pennsylvania.
The legislation was sponsored by Sen. George Howard Bunting, Sen. Patricia Blevins, Rep. Terry Spence and Rep. John Kowalko. “The veterans who have so nobly served our country ought to be able to get the surgical services they need at the VA hospital in our state, which is in my district,” said Sen. Blevins. “This hospital serves as a medical home for veterans all over the state. It’s the place where they are familiar and feel comfortable and want to support their ability to stay here.”
Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn, who proposed the new legislation stated, “There are a number of retired surgeons that have offered to do work at the VA hospital, but there is a clause in the medical malpractice insurance contracts of retired doctors that causes them to lose their coverage for past acts of medical malpractice if they come out of retirement to work as surgeons at the VA hospital,” He continues, “This bill would eliminate that insurance barrier and allowed retired surgeons to provide critically needed surgical services to Delaware veterans.”
The legislation removes the roadblocks within medical malpractice insurance contracts for retired doctors who return to the workforce in the VA hospital. Before the new legislation, doctors could lose their “tail coverage” on previous cases of medical malpractice.
According to Dr. Dennis Witmer, who is head of surgery at the Elsmere VA hospital, 1,200 more major surgeries can be done at the Elsmere facility. “This legislation is going to help us a lot – help us to recruit the doctors we need to treat veterans, help us reduce waiting time for critical procedures, and help us reduce the number of referrals we have to make outside of Delaware.
Delaware Veterans Commission executive director Tony Davila voiced his pleasure with the bill.“With the aging veterans population, it is important to not have to make them and their families travel to other hospitals. If we can bring surgeons out of retirement, it will make it much easier on them. It’s very necessary to provide these services here in Delaware.”
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