Roughly three-quarters of all older veterans admitted in 2020 and 2021 for COVID-19 were treated at local community hospitals, where they suffered higher death rates than those treated at Veterans Affairs medical centers, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
But patients treated at a VA hospital were more likely to be readmitted within 30 days for further medical care, according to an analysis of 64,856 veterans hospitalized for severe COVID-19.
According to the observational study, conducted by researchers with the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System, 74% of the patients reviewed were treated at a community facility while the remainder was admitted to a VA facility.
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Roughly 27% of veteran patients in the community hospitals died, compared with 17.7% of veterans treated at a VA hospital. Regarding readmission, 12.7% of veteran patients in community care facilities were readmitted within 30 days, while 14% of VA patients wound up back in the hospital.
The researchers did not explain why the death rates were so different, nor did they provide a detailed breakdown of outcomes of 123 VA and 4,369 community hospitals that treated vets for COVID-19.
They noted, however, that the Veterans Health Administration was proactive in providing the most up-to-date care, while many of the community hospitals studied were in…
