MARION - Sixteen months after in-patient surgeries at the VA Medical Center in Marion were suspended by the National Surgeon Quality Improvement Program investigation team, progress has been made but more work remains, officials familiar with the situation say.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, continues to monitor and work with the medical center so that complex surgeries may resume soon.

In the next Congress, Durbin plans to reintroduce the Veterans Health Care Quality Improvement Act. The legislation was introduced in November of 2007 by Durbin and former Sen. Barack Obama to strengthen hiring practices and improve quality control measures at VA medical facilities.

The bill would require doctors applying to the VA to disclose all past malpractice payments and disciplinary actions against them and any ongoing investigations or outstanding allegations, as well as to send a written request to any state board where they have ever held a license asking that board to disclose this same information to the VA.

These measures would likely have stopped the Marion VA hospital from hiring Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez while the Massachusetts State Medical Board was investigating him for gross incompetence.

"Senator Durbin is committed to taking action on the federal level to improve health care at VA medical facilities and reduce the likelihood of this ever happening again," said Christina Mulka, spokesperson for the senator. "We need to be sure that our VA system is equipped to handle not only the current load but the increased responsibilities associated with return of veterans. We can ill-afford more incidents like we saw at Marion."

In total, six physicians were linked to patient care problems. Two resigned their duties and the remaining four were prohibited from performing complex surgeries.

Outpatient surgeries resumed at the hospital in May.

VA Medical Center spokeswoman Peggy Willoughby said no specific date has been set for the resumption of complex or in-patient surgeries, but the hospital has made major strides toward that goal in recent months.

"Our Preoperative Evaluation and Risk Assessment Clinics, which help determine surgical risks, opened up this summer," Willoughby said. "We have increased staffing. There is 24/7 support for respiratory therapy, radiology, lab and the pharmacy, which we didn't have before. We resumed full ambulatory surgeries in November (such as podiatry and carpal tunnel)."

Willoughby said the hospital is appreciative of its veterans and has received an outpouring of support from the community.

john.homan@thesouthern.com / 351-5805