Under the new systems, veterans records from the Department of Defense will be available along with medical records and they will be able to easily access records from other VAs. The last major update to the system was in the 1970s and there was a delay in getting the new system. Lawrence said they restarted the process in April 10 in downstate Michigan.

“Four facilities went live and that went fine. In fact, after the fourth day, in Ann Arbor an open heart surgery was performed successfully using the new health records,” Lawrence said while at the medical center Wednesday.

He said they will go live in four new facilities in southern Ohio in June; three in August in Indiana; in Cleveland and Anchorage, Alaska, in October; and then they will turn to Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

“From what I’ve seen today, talking with the leadership and the change team, the folks that drive the details, we’re on schedule. Very positive meetings. I have very high confidence that we’ll get this done,” he said.

From left, Victor Quijano, chief of staff at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, listens as medical center Director John P. Shealey discusses the new Federal Electronic Health Record system that will be implemented Jan. 6 at the facility in Iron Mountain. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

“At one point in time, the medical records system we use now was state of the art. As you go on in time, you get a new one that is better,” said Victor Quijano, chief of staff at the medical center. “It’s great to have the deputy secretary here as we roll out our EHRM. This is going to be a great benefit for the veterans, as well as the providers here.”

“It’s a huge benefit for veteran patients, as we’ll be able to import their records from the DOD and other VAs seamlessly. A lot of veterans don’t know about this yet. They might have lost their records or they may be across the country,” Quijano said.

John P. Shealey, director of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, believes the most important thing is not the convenience, but the safety for the veteran patients.

Under the old system, it was difficult to access records if a veteran went to another VA facility, and they had to use a different system to access Department of Defense records. Once the new system is in place, VAs will have instant access to a veteran’s medical information, which will help with patient safety because they can see what treatments were received.

“It’s a robust process that’s designed to make sure we can get information to the people who need it, when they need it, quickly,” Shealey said.

Shealey also addressed delays in implementing the new system. “The short answer is, a lot of people don’t know this, but we are the largest health care system on the planet; we are the largest health care organization. That being said, anytime you make a change, it’s a heavy lift and you have to do in a way that maintains patient care and safety.”

The center has 10 super users who will train front end staff members. They will also have access to national assets if they have questions.

Lawrence said he had a very positive visit at the Iron Mountain facilities.

“I’m very impressed with the team. I did a town hall at a VFW post. Tremendous amount of compliments about the care, quality of care — dentistry in particular — the attention, the fact that it’s a very friendly and welcoming environment. Huge compliments about that. The folks I met with today very much understand veterans are at the very center of what we do. The facility is very well kept up,” he said, despite being 75 years old.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.