The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to continue to provide in-home health care for a Springfield veteran with Lou Gehrig’s disease who needs around-the-clock help and sued the federal agency when it threatened to halt the care.
The Veterans Affairs department agreed to contract with Michael Williamson’s choice of in-home care providers through a newly formed agency, “Better Horizons.” If any problems arise, the federal agency will work to meet Williamson’s wishes and medical needs, according to their settlement.
With the voluntary resolution reached between both sides, Williamson’s lawsuit is formally dismissed.
“The parties have worked hard to reach consensus on this matter,” Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said. “His is an honored veteran and deserving of thoughtful and attentive care.”
Thomas Stenson, a Disability Rights Oregon lawyer who represented Williamson, said it was very important to his client that he remain in his home.
“It was a challenging situation, and when we filed suit, the VA stepped up and we came to an agreement,” Stenson said. “We’re very happy the VA was able to work with us.”
Williamson, an Air Force veteran, sued the federal agency on Jan. 23 in U.S. District Court in Eugene after a VA contract company notified him that his home health care of nearly 17 years would halt on Feb. 13 because it couldn’t find caregivers, according to the suit. The company, New Horizons, contracts with the VA’s medical facility in Roseburg.
Seven days later, the Department of Veteran Affairs reached an agreement with New Horizons to extend care for another 60 days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian Brown wrote in a court document.
Officials at Roseburg VA Health Care System told Williamson that they had no other approved care-giving agencies in the area and that he would have to move to a nursing home in San Francisco, Boise or Washington’s Puget Sound, according to the suit.
Attorneys from Disability Rights Oregon argued that the VA’s initial action violated its own regulations, which directs the department to offer a choice of providers and provide continuity of care.
Williamson served 14 years in the Air Force. He served in Iraq in 1988 and was in Saudi Arabia before, during and after Desert Storm in the early 1990s. Eleven years after serving in Iraq he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal column, taking the ability to move, speak, eat and breathe.
He is on a ventilator and has a feeding tube for sustenance and medications. His mind is fully intact.
In 2001, the VA recognized a connection between ALS and Gulf War veterans, giving them full disability and survivor benefits.
