24 U.S.C. § 413: Services provided to residents

Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), a resident of the Retirement Home shall receive the services authorized by the Chief Operating Officer. The Retirement Home shall provide for the overall health care needs of residents in a high quality and cost-effective manner, including on site primary care, medical care, and a continuum of long-term care services. The services provided residents of the Retirement Home shall include appropriate nonacute medical and dental services, pharmaceutical services, and transportation of residents, which shall be provided at no cost to residents. Secondary and tertiary hospital care for residents that is not available at a facility of the Retirement Home shall, to the extent available, be obtained by agreement with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Secretary of Defense in a facility administered by such Secretary. Except as provided in subsection (d), the Retirement Home shall not be responsible for the costs incurred for such care by a resident of the Retirement Home who uses a private medical facility for such care. The Retirement Home may not construct an acute care facility. In providing for the health care needs of residents at a facility of the Retirement Home under subsection (b), the Retirement Home shall have appropriate licensed practitioners, as determined under paragraph (2), available during the daily business hours of the facility and on an on-call basis at other times. In accordance with accrediting organization standards pursuant to section 411(g) of this title , the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Medical Director, shall ensure that the skills, experience, and availability of the practitioners are suited to residents of the facility. With respect to each facility of the Retirement Home, the Retirement Home shall provide daily scheduled transportation to nearby medical facilities used by residents of the facility. The Retirement Home may provide, based on a determination of medical need, unscheduled transportation for a resident of the facility to any medical facility located not more than 30 miles from the facility for the provision of necessary and urgent medical care for the resident. The Retirement Home may not collect a fee from a resident for transportation provided under this subsection.