Under a pioneering agreement with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Healthcare System, beginning this summer, the Health System will operate a surgical suite at the VA medical center where U-M physicians will perform outpatient procedures in general surgery, otolaryngology and urology for Health System patients.
This partnership will allow the VA center to continue providing the same high-quality care to veterans, while giving the Health System a way to reduce the wait for those in need of surgery.
The VA medical center’s surgical facility opened three years ago, and with its current excess capacity, it will provide the 33rd operating room for the Health System. The VA’s facility has nine operating suites.
“The UMHS has tremendous pressure on its operating rooms because there are so many patients who are in need of surgery and are sent to the Health System by referring physicians,” says John E. Billi, Medical School associate dean for clinical affairs. “This will decrease wait times for patients while providing an extremely high quality of care by University faculty physicians in the VA facility.”