From left: Nicole Guest; Dwayne McDavitt, and Teddy Daniels prepare to address the gathered crowd at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center during an event in August. Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is urging President Joe Biden and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough to eliminate what Garrity calls “the harsh restrictions in place” at the Plains Township facility. Guest, a Navy veteran who has volunteered at the VA for nine years, organized this ‘Free Our Veterans’ rally at the facility in August.
Times Leader file photo
Garrity critical of visitation policies implemented during pandemic
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Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a veteran who served in the Middle East, is calling on the Biden administration to end what she calls “the harsh restrictions in place” at the Wilkes-Barre Veterans Administration Medical Center in Plains Township.
Regulations initially were tightened over two years ago, as the COVID-19 epidemic began to spread.
“The way veterans are being treated at the Wilkes-Barre VA is outrageous,” Garrity said in a statement released Thursday. “Family visits are extremely limited. No volunteers are being allowed inside. And the veterans have not had any outings since March 2020. Meanwhile, federal guidance for nursing homes explicitly encourages visitors. No one can give a good explanation why our veterans are being treated differently and left to suffer in isolation.”
According to Garrity’s statement, “official guidance from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing facilities, says — very clearly — that “visitation must be permitted at all times with very limited and rare exceptions, in accordance with residents’ rights.”
The treasurer wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough on Wednesday calling on them to “to take immediate action to end these unconscionable policies.”
Garrity said she has not yet heard back from Biden or McDonough. A Times Leader e-mail to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ media office in Washington was not returned on Thursday.
The local VA did respond to a reporter’s inquiry, as detailed below.
“This VA is about 18 miles from where President Biden grew up, so I hope he takes a personal interest in solving the problem,” Garrity said. “I contacted the Wilkes-Barre VA about these issues in August, and I was given a telephone number to call in Washington, D.C. I did, but no one answered, and there was no ability to even leave a voicemail. I know Congressman (Matt) Cartwright is aware of the situation, but have not heard from him directly.”
Cartwright’s office responds
Cartwright’s office said he met with Russell Lloyd, Director of the Wilkes-Barre Veterans Affairs Medical Center, on Sept. 9, to discuss patient and resident safety and quality of life concerns based on federally directed COVID precautions.
“At that meeting, Mr. Lloyd communicated that the Wilkes-Barre VAMC had already begun implementing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ‘Community Living Center Moving Forward Plan,’ that reflects new federal guidance for COVID-19 precautions,” a Cartwright spokesperson said. “Congressman Cartwright’s office has remained in contact with the Wilkes-Barre VAMC and as per the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Moving Forward Plan, the Wilkes-Barre VAMC has updated their visitation policies.”
Wilkes-Barre VA responds
William Klaips, Executive Assistant to the Director/Public Affairs Officer at VAMC Wilkes-Barre, issued a response.
“Since the onset of the pandemic, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has monitored community prevalence and transmission rates to assure that the appropriate level of precautionary measures are being maintained for the sustainment of safe reliable care for our veterans and residents, while maintaining a safe environment for our staff.”
Klaips said the Wilkes-Barre VA follows Veterans Health Administration guidance regarding the implementation COVID precautions within the Medical Center and Community Living. He said visitation is contingent on the community transmission/prevalence rates, so it is subject to change.
Klaips provided the VA’s current visitation status:
• Community Living Center
Visitation for Community Living Center Residents is allowed in designated visitation rooms and the Lobby of the CLC by individuals over 2 years of age.
Visitations are pre-scheduled, 8 a.m.–4 p.m./7 days a week, to assure appropriate distancing can be maintained.
There are no time limits on the length of visits
Masking remains a requirement for residents, staff and visitors within the Community Living Center.
Based on acuity level, ambulatory Residents and visitors are free to walk the grounds and visit the Canteen.
Rapid COVID testing is available for visitors.
• Medical Center
Visitation within the Acute Care units at the Medical Center is currently limited to one individual at a time over 12 years of age.
Visitation for COVID positive patients is limited to compassionate care only.
‘Family is always on your mind’
Garrity is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves who served for three decades before retiring as a colonel. She stressed the importance of family connections to veterans and active duty personnel.
“When you serve in the military, family is always on your mind,” she said. “The heroes at the Wilkes-Barre VA deserve to spend time with their families and loved ones, they deserve camaraderie with each other, and they deserve visits from gracious and generous volunteers to lift their spirits.”
Garrity praised volunteers like Nicole Guest, a Navy veteran who has volunteered at the VA for nine years and who organized a large “Free Our Veterans” rally at the facility in August. At that time, Guest said March 9, 2020 was the last day the volunteers were allowed into the facility.
“Sadly, it looks like the only way these extreme policies will be changed is with public pressure,” Garrity said. “And we won’t stop fighting until conditions improve for the veterans at the Wilkes-Barre VA. Isolation kills, and our ailing and elderly heroes shouldn’t be forced to spend their golden years in a bureaucratic form of solitary confinement.”
Guest herself told a reporter she’s been working with Garrity since the end of July. Guest noted that as a veteran herself, and with Garrity being a veteran, they sympathize with residents.
“When you’re away from your family, we understand,” she said, pointing out that whether it’s a deployment, or simply being away from the world inside the medical facility, there’s not much difference.
“They’re (VA residents) not living, they’re existing,” Guest said. “We want to see our veterans being able to live free like all other veterans and residents — their brothers and sisters — at all state and private residences. They deserve a quality of life.”