Inpatient Care at Quantico Naval Hospital Should Not Be Resumed

GAO was requested to determine the cost-effectiveness of discontinuing inpatient care at Quantico Naval Hospital, Quantico, Virginia, and to determine the adequacy of emergency facilities at Quantico. A Navy feasibility study predicted a savings of $439,000 to the government from discontinuing inpatient care at the facility. However, a GAO review of this study identified deficiencies in the methods used to calculate the gross savings from the discontinuance and the cost of providing care at other military and civilian facilities. Many of these deficiencies resulted in an understatement of the potential cost savings. By overstating the cost to the government of providing care at other facilities for those past users of Quantico, the Navy underestimated savings to the government from the discontinued service at Quantico. Inpatient care is available to Quantico beneficiaries at Dewitt Army Hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. Although the emergency room at Quantico has been closed, emergency care is available at Dewitt Army Hospital and three civilian hospitals within a 25-mile radius of the former Quantico hospital. Ambulances and helicopters are available to transport, and a direct telephone line has been installed between the Quantico clinic and the emergency room at Dewitt. Because of the continuing decline of inpatient workload at Quantico and the availability of care for Quantico beneficiaries at Dewitt, GAO believes resuming inpatient care at Quantico would not be cost-effective.