New man at helm of Holderman Hospital

By BILL KISLIUK
Register Editor

Seven months after a controversial audit of services at the California Veterans Home at Yountville and a handful of special legislative efforts to increase staffing at the home, a new high-level administrator has come on board to oversee medical care.

Steven Lamar, 64, who has a background in military healthcare administration and finance, is the new hospital services administrator at the Vets Home. The position was created through legislation introduced by state Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa.

Wiggins also sought the audit of the Vets Home after a Sacramento hearing in which some veterans complained about the level of care at Holderman Hospital, the medical facility on the grounds of the home.

The audit, released in April, found no significant failings regarding medical care or oversight at the home. However, the audit said the home must more closely track use of medical equipment, try to address overtime issues and a nursing shortage. Wiggins also sponsored legislation to raise the annual wages of nurses at state-run veterans’ facilities.

Lamar, according to Vets Home Deputy Administrator Bart Buechner, “is taking over the coordination of all operations at Holderman Hospital.” That includes medicine, nursing, dental services, the pharmacy, ambulatory care services as well as coordinating long-term and skilled care.

Lamar, of Novato, has a long track record in healthcare and financial oversight. He has served at Naval hospitals in Bethesda, Md., and Charleston, S.C. He was the director of administration at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Silver Spring, Md., from 1988 to 1990 and deputy director and director of hospital administration at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda from 1986 to 1988.

Lamar was chief operating officer at BayStar Capital Management from 2000 to 2005 and an executive at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey from 1994 to 2000. He earned his Ph.D. in nutrition and a master’s in public health nutrition from Case Western Reserve University.

J.P. Trombley, deputy secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs, said the agency did a nationwide search to fill the post, which pays $95,000 a year.

“We anticipate he’ll be a good addition to the administration and operation of the home and continue the good record and practices and polices there.”

The Yountville facility is home to more than 1,000 veterans of wars spanning from World War II to the wars in the Persian Gulf. A new project, called Pathway Home, serves veterans of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Buechner said that any time, roughly one-third of residents at the home are at Holderman or otherwise under direct medical supervision.

Lamar could not be reached for this story, and Buechner said Lamar has been busy since his arrival in mid-October.

“Everyone has given him their briefings and wish lists. We are working on a new quality management plan, and he’ll be in at the ground floor of doing that, as well,” he said.

Buechner said that while “the audit did not find any quality-of-care issues and we are happy to be meeting and exceeding standards today, we always want to be more responsive” to the medical needs of residents.

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