Lawrence Connell, a retired U.S. Army colonel, has assumed his new role as director of the Providence VA Medical Center on June 23. The health care system, which includes satellite locations in Middletown, New Bedford and Hyannis, Mass., serves more than 35,000 veterans.
Connell, who was previously chief of staff for the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, D.C., is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
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PBN: Are there any issues that are at the top of your to-do list as you settle into your new position?
CONNELL: My top priority is enrolling more veterans in the VA Providence Healthcare System. There are a lot of eligible veterans out there who are not using the health care benefits they have earned, and I want to change that. Some of them may not know they are eligible; some of them may have had a bad experience many years ago – either way, I say check us out! You do not need to have served in combat to be eligible, and our care scores as good or better versus the private sector in most areas. You can see for yourself at http://www.accesstocare.va.gov. Plus there are no premiums to pay! It really is an amazing benefit, and I think everyone who can should take advantage of it.
PBN: Have physicians at the Providence VA been providing care for veterans who contracted COVID-19?
CONNELL: Yes! We added special COVID-19 in-patient facilities, expanding the total number of beds we have available from 73 to 98, in case we would need them in response to a surge in coronavirus patients requiring in-patient level of care. Thankfully, we have not needed all that additional capacity. We have had 142 of our Veteran patients who have tested positive, but many of them only required outpatient care or received care from our healthcare partners in the community. So far, we have admitted 18 COVID-19 patients for in-patient care. In all, 115 of our coronavirus patients have recovered to date.
PBN: What sort of challenges, if any, has the COVID-19 health crisis presented for the Providence VA?
CONNELL: In a nutshell, it completely changed how we do business. We had to limit in-person appointments to ones that were medically necessary and could not wait. We suspended visitors and started screening everyone coming into our facilities. Everyone in health care had to deal with these challenges, but before the coronavirus, one of the things that set us apart was the fact that Veterans wanted to come here for care because they could socialize with other Veterans, and suddenly that was just not safe anymore. As they say, however, when one door closes, another one opens, and we were able to greatly expand not just the number of virtual appointments through applications like VA Video Connect, but application of that technology in new ways, as well. VA was already a leader in using telehealth, but we have learned so much during the coronavirus response that I believe will pay big dividends in access to care for our patients in the future. I mean, if you are a patient with mobility challenges, why travel to the medical center if we can do your appointment at home by smartphone? As we transition back to something more like normal life, I think the social aspects of VA health care will return, but I also think telehealth is going to be a game-changer for patients with transportation challenges. We have even found that some patients – particularly younger ones – seem to prefer virtual appointments to in-person appointments for certain types of care, because they are already comfortable with the technology.
PBN: What sorts of services are most in demand at the Providence VA?
CONNELL: We do much more outpatient care, in general. In a given year we will see more than 625,000 outpatient encounters across the medical center and our outpatient clinics, including telehealth and virtual care, versus roughly 3,000 hospital admissions. Some of the most common services we provide include primary care, mental health, optometry, emergency and urgent care, dermatology, podiatry, physical therapy, and of course the pharmacy. In all, we have more than 30 specialty clinics.
PBN: What do you envision for the medical center within the next 10 years?
CONNELL: I want to start by letting people know that we already have one of the best healthcare systems in the country. As I noted earlier, in comparison with the private sector, our care scores as good or better in most areas, and more than 90% of VA Providence HCS patients surveyed consistently report positive experiences in areas such as quality, employee helpfulness and overall satisfaction. We also punch way above our weight when it comes to research. Our program features more than 260 projects representing over $23 million, partnering with organizations such as Brown University, the University of Rhode Island, Care New England, Lifespan, and Mass. General Hospital to study rehabilitation medicine, cardiology, mental health, neuroscience and neurotechnology, substance abuse, long-term care services and pulmonary disease, among others. I want to build on those successes – to be the preferred site of care for all the veterans in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The Choice Act and the MISSION Act expanded veterans’ access to care in the community, and that is a good thing – particularly the new Urgent Care option – but the fact is that we have experience with conditions that are more common among veterans; we know what care veterans need. I want to make sure veterans know that and choose us first. Right now, we have about 36,000 active patients in our system. There are approximately 115,000 Veterans in our area of responsibility, out of which we estimate roughly 57,000 are eligible for VA health care, so we have captured about 63% of our market. In 10 years I would like to see us capture more than 70%, and I think we can get there. We have the experience with veterans, our care is just as good or better than that available in the private sector, and telehealth is making our care more accessible than ever before. I am really excited to see what we can achieve over the next decade.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
