VA Hospital officials answer questions about abrupt pause

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - For the first time in almost five months since the Fort Wayne VA Hospital abruptly paused some services officials are speaking out.  They said there are new policies and procedures in place to avoid something similar from happening again.

NewsChannel 15 was told back in October that after an internal review VA officials decided to pause some services.  That's because not all employees were up to date with their training and knowledge of hospital policies.  There was not one specific event that led to the abrupt pause. Hospital officials said they wanted to get everyone on the same page so they could provide the best care possible.  The director of the VA hospital said all employees have successfully completed their training.  They've implemented a new set of checks and balances so veterans can receive the best care.

"Every day there's a daily huddle where they look back and say 'What worked? What do we need to improve on? What could we do better tomorrow?'  So, there's front line overview of it, there's middle management view of it and we see this on a daily basis as well. So, it's throughout the organization that those check and balances are in place," Medical Center Director Denise Deitzen said.

While they were training employees they also updated part of the intensive care unit.  NewsChannel 15 got a firsthand look at the newly renovated rooms.    Hospital administrators also announced they'll begin construction on a mental health annex this spring.  It's set to open in 2015.