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Show VA Patients Get Heart Operations SALT LAKE CITY--Forty-two Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center patients received open-heart surgery during the first 10 months of the VA contract with the University of Utah Medical Center. Under their new fiscal-year contract effective last Oct. 1, another 60 VA patients will receive open-heart surgery at a cost of $5,250 each at the University of Utah Medical Center. It is performed by Dr. William De-Vries, cardio-thoracic section chief at the VA medical center, said Bob Lindsey, Jr., director of the VA medical center. DeVries also is chairman, cardio-thoracic surgery div., University of Utah Medical Center. "We're now gearing up for doing open-heart surgery here after next Sept. 30," said Dr. Mark Wolcott, chief of staff, VA medical center. "We hope to be funded for fiscal 1983 to do so in our new, $23-million clinical support wing to be completed next summer." Wolcott said moving open-heart surgery to the VA would require budgeting of about $1 million. The move would include the hiring of another part-time physician, several nurses and a technician, plus provision for more blood. Until last December, veterans from the VA medical center's six-state catchment area had to be flown to either the Denver, Colo, or Palo Alto, Calif. VA medical center for open-heart surgery. Under the first and current contracts with the University of Utah, VA patients are quickly returned to the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center for recuperation. |