Two weeks after the head of Hefner VA Medical Center closed the center’s heated, indoor swimming pool because of safety concerns, a number of Rowan County residents are asking their congressmen to investigate the status of the pool.
Leonard Wood, director of the Rowan County Health Department, and representatives of
Rufty-Holmes Senior Center and Salisbury-Rowan YMCA can’t answer that question. But they’re still studying possible alternatives for the estimated 130 seniors who used the VA pool for water exercise and therapy programs.
Wood said he hopes to mail a letter enumerating options to those people by the middle of this week.
Carla Mallinson of Sells Road has written to 12th District Rep. Mel Watt on behalf of her mother, 87-year-old Anna Hoffman, who has participated in the VA pool’s water exercise and therapy classes for the past 16 years.
Terri Welch, district representative for 6th District Rep. Howard Coble, said she has received about six inquiries about the closing of the pool and has subsequently sent copies of a Salisbury Post news story and editorial related to the closing to Coble’s Washington office. She has also sent copies to the office of 8th District Rep. Robin Hayes.
“I send anything that looks like an issue” to Coble, she said, “so he’ll be in touch.” She sent the information to Hayes because he’s on a veterans committee and, therefore, “very interested in anything that concerns veterans. I know this is an issue that will be of interest to him.”
Callers indicated their concerns that the pool has been closed, she said, and want to know if it will be repaired or if the programs will be relocated to other sites.
Mallinson said the VA pool is “something that a lot of us in the community feel strongly about. It’s of tremendous value to the community. We need to get it back as soon as possible.”
She said her mother is still active and mobile and credits much of her good health to the pool program, which Hoffman attended religiously.
“The loss of this program has been devastating to her and many other participants,” Mallinson wrote in her letter to Watt. “There is no question as to its value in terms of keeping senior citizens healthy, mobile and out of nursing homes.”
She asked Watt to look into the situation if that’s possible. The VA center falls in Watt’s district.
“Many of us would very much appreciate your efforts to secure federal or other funding to repair this facility so that the programs could resume,” she said, “instead of letting it deteriorate further. Please let me know if I can provide you with any other information or can help in any way.”
Watt’s office had not yet “received any communication about the swimming pool from individuals or the Medical Center that I’m aware of,” said Press Secretary Schorr Johnson.
“When our office receives a communication (from Mallinson or anyone else), we will make an inquiry and contact the appropriate government agencies and try to get an answer.”
VA Center Director Timothy May closed the 50-year-old pool July 10, following a recommendation by an independent structural engineer with Browning Engineers of Charlotte. Access was prohibited in the area, May said, “until we figure out what we can do with it.”
Apparent structural damage was causing ceiling material to peel away and small pieces have fallen.
If a big piece fell from the 30 to 40-foot ceiling, it could kill someone, May said.
The inspection showed cracking of the concrete roof panels and major corrosion and structural weakness of the reinforcing steel. It was immediately condemned, locks were changed and “closed” signs were put up.
The pool was being used by an outpatient group of about 20 veterans and four classes of about 130 senior citizens on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
May said he planned to have another group of engineers look at the pool to determine what could be done, short of a major project, and the cost.
But he added that he wouldn’t hold out a lot of hope for the aging pool.
Both the Salisbury-Rowan YMCA and the Rufty Holmes Senior Center, which operates classes on a contractual basis for the Rowan County Health Department, have heated pools and water therapy classes for oder adults but don’t keep the water as warm as the VA pool. The VA pool was maintained at 92 or 93 degrees, while the Y and the Senior Center keep their pools at 86 or 87 degrees.
Wood, the Health Department director, says he’s sure that makes a difference and no other facility in the community has the availability of that higher temperature in their pools.
“I’m sure,” he said, “that creates some concern for participants. The veterans and older adults liked the higher temperature because it was comfortable for them.”
He and three others involved in the various programs — Rick Eldridge, director of the Senior Center; Barbara Causey, program coordinator for older adults at the Y and
Rufty-Holmes and VA therapy class leader; and Nora Cartner, nursing supervisor responsible for the program for the Health Department — have been studying possibilities.
“We’re looking at every alternative option that we can,” Wood said, before they issue the letter.
Contact Rose Post at 704-797-4251 or rpost@salisburypost.com
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