MANCHESTER, NH — The Department of Veterans Affairs Manchester Healthcare System has cancelled in-person patient appointments at the Manchester VA Medical Center (VAMC) and Tilton Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) due to infrastructure issues related to recent frigid weather conditions consisting of water and heating concerns.
“Patient safety is our number one concern at VA Manchester,” said Director Kevin Forrest. “We will continue to monitor and evaluate our facility water and heat concerns. Our dedicated facilities team is proactively researching any contributing factors and all hands are on deck supporting this effort.”
Patient face-to-face health care visits at both Manchester VAMC, including Urgent Care, and Tilton CBOC will be transitioned to virtual appointments or rescheduled until further notice.
The Manchester VAMC took immediate actions to ensure the health and safety of the 12 Community Living Center (CLC) patients, followed by efforts to troubleshoot the loss of water pressure. During facility inspections, the water pressure continued to lessen leading the steam-operated boiler system to be placed on pause to avoid additional infrastructure damage.
In the essence of caution and due to the ongoing water shortage, a decision was made early this morning to relocate our CLC patients to VA White River Junction, Vermont and VA Bedford, Massachusetts. All patients have safely arrived at their temporary VA destinations.
Please contact the VISN 1 Clinical Contact Center to verify the status of your appointment(s) at (603) 624-4366, ext. 3199. The Manchester VAMC is also proactively reaching out to patients and advising them on their appointment status.
VA Manchester Healthcare System is part of the VA New England Healthcare System which includes eight medical centers, located in the six New England states. Manchester VA is comprised of one main campus located in Manchester and four community-based outpatient clinics located in Conway, Portsmouth, Somersworth, and Tilton. The Portsmouth outpatient clinic is located at Pease Air National Guard Base.