§8107. Operational and construction plans for medical facilities

(a) In order to promote effective planning for the efficient provision of care to eligible veterans, the Secretary, based on the analysis and recommendations of the Under Secretary for Health, shall submit to each committee an annual report regarding long-range health planning of the Department. The report shall be submitted each year not later than the date on which the budget for the next fiscal year is submitted to the Congress under section 1105 of title 31.

(b) Each report under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) A five-year strategic plan for the provision of care under chapter 17 of this title to eligible veterans through coordinated networks of medical facilities operating within prescribed geographic service-delivery areas, such plan to include provision of services for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans (including veterans with spinal cord dysfunction, blindness, amputations, and mental illness) through distinct programs or facilities of the Department dedicated to the specialized needs of those veterans.

(2) A description of how planning for the networks will be coordinated.

(3) A profile regarding each such network of medical facilities which identifies-

(A) the mission of each existing or proposed medical facility in the network;

(B) any planned change in the mission for any such facility and the rationale for such planned change;

(C) the population of veterans to be served by the network and anticipated changes over a five-year period and a ten-year period, respectively, in that population and in the health-care needs of that population;

(D) information relevant to assessing progress toward the goal of achieving relative equivalency in the level of resources per patient distributed to each network, such information to include the plans for and progress toward lowering the cost of care-delivery in the network (by means such as changes in the mix in the network of physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and advance practice nurses);

(E) the capacity of non-Federal facilities in the network to provide acute, long-term, and specialized treatment and rehabilitative services (described in section 7306(f)(1)(A) of this title), and determinations regarding the extent to which services to be provided in each service-delivery area and each facility in such area should be provided directly through facilities of the Department or through contract or other arrangements, including arrangements authorized under sections 8111 and 8153 of this title; and

(F) a five-year plan for construction, replacement, or alteration projects in support of the approved mission of each facility in the network and a description of how those projects will improve access to care, or quality of care, for patients served in the network.

(4) A status report for each facility on progress toward-

(A) instituting planned mission changes identified under paragraph (3)(B);

(B) implementing principles of managed care of eligible veterans; and

(C) developing and instituting cost-effective alternatives to provision of institutional care.

(c) The Secretary shall submit to each committee not later than January 31 of each year a report showing the location, space, cost, and status of each medical facility (1) the construction, alteration, lease, or other acquisition of which has been approved under section 8104(a) of this title, and (2) which was uncompleted as of the date of the last preceding report made under this subsection.

(d)(1) The Secretary shall submit to each committee, not later than January 31 of each year, a report showing the current priorities of the Department for proposed major medical construction projects. Each such report shall identify the 20 projects, from within all the projects in the Department's inventory of proposed projects, that have the highest priority and, for those 20 projects, the relative priority and rank scoring of each such project and the projected cost of such project (including the projected operating costs, including both recurring and nonrecurring costs). The 20 projects shall be compiled, and their relative rankings shall be shown, by category of project (including the categories of ambulatory care projects, nursing home care projects, and such other categories as the Secretary determines).

(2) The Secretary shall include in each report, for each project listed, a description of the specific factors that account for the relative ranking of that project in relation to other projects within the same category.

(3) In a case in which the relative ranking of a proposed project has changed since the last report under this subsection was submitted, the Secretary shall also include in the report a description of the reasons for the change in the ranking, including an explanation of any change in the scoring of the project under the Department's scoring system for proposed major medical construction projects.

(Added Pub. L. 96–22, title III, §301(a), June 13, 1979, 93 Stat. 58 , §5007; amended Pub. L. 99–166, title III, §302(a)–(c)(1), Dec. 3, 1985, 99 Stat. 955 ; Pub. L. 99–576, title II, §222, Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3259 ; renumbered §8107 and amended Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, §402(b)(1), (d)(1), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 238 , 239; Pub. L. 102–54, §14(f)(3), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 287 ; Pub. L. 102–83, §4(b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 404 , 405; Pub. L. 102–405, title III, §302(c)(1), Oct. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 1984 ; Pub. L. 104–262, title II, §204, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3188 ; Pub. L. 105–368, title X, §1005(b)(18), Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3365 .)

Amendments

1998-Subsec. (b)(3)(E). Pub. L. 105–368 substituted "section 7306(f)(1)(A)" for "section 7305".

1996-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–262, §204(2), added subsec. (a) and struck out former subsec. (a) which directed the Secretary to submit an annual report on the construction, replacement, alteration, and operation of medical facilities.

Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 104–262, §204(1), (2), added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c).

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–262, §204(3), added subsec. (d).

1992-Subsec. (a)(1), (2)(B). Pub. L. 102–405 substituted "Under Secretary for Health" for "Chief Medical Director".

1991-Pub. L. 102–40, §402(b)(1), renumbered section 5007 of this title as this section.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–83 substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator".

Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 102–83, §4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator".

Pub. L. 102–54 amended subsec. (a)(2)(B) as in effect immediately before the enactment of Pub. L. 102–40 by striking out the second comma before "are most in need of".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–83 substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator".

Pub. L. 102–40, §402(d)(1), substituted "8104(a)" for "5004(a)".

1986-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–576 inserted ", after considering the analysis and recommendations of the Chief Medical Director," after "Administrator" in pars. (1) and (2)(B).

1985-Pub. L. 99–166, §302(c)(1), substituted "Operational and construction plans for medical facilities" for "Reports to congressional committees" in section catchline.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 99–166, §302(a)(1)–(3), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted "an annual report on the construction, replacement, alteration, and operation of medical facilities" for "an annual report on the construction, replacement, and alteration of medical facilities", and struck out provisions relating to the content of the reports to be submitted to congressional committees and the time such reports were to be submitted.

Subsec. (a)(2), (3). Pub. L. 99–166, §302(a)(4), added pars. (2) and (3).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–166, §302(b), struck out "(beginning in 1981)" before "a report", designated existing provisions as cl. (1), and substituted cl. (2) designation for ", in the case of the second and each succeeding report made under this subsection,".