Pulling the Plug: Factoids

  • 163
    Number of hospitals among the 5,007 buildings in the VA health system, the world's largest.
  • 14,925
    Number of hospitalized VA patients on an average day-down from 91,878 35 years ago.
  • 52%
    Increase in outpatient visits the VA handled per year between 1994 and 2003.
  • $1 million
    Amount the VA spends each day maintaining unneeded buildings and land.
  • 5.2 million
    Number of patients the VA will treat in 2005, a 20 percent increase over 2001.

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