HOT SPRINGS | A new proposal to not only save but also enhance the Veterans Affairs hospital in Hot Springs surfaced Monday, and would add not only a medical college but also a medical research component involving the use of stem cells to the facility.

The idea, put forward by an Iowa-based, non-profit corporation, would also be built around treating patients with regenerative therapy, which helps skin grow back.

Bob Krause, president of Veterans National Recover Center, was joined by surgeon Don Swift in Hot Springs to presented the proposal at a press conference Monday morning. Their multi-pronged plan has been submitted for consideration to the VA Black Hills Health Care Systems Environmental Impact Statement.

Our proposal has three main areas, Krause told the small audience that attended the press conference. First, the creation of Battle Mountain College, for the training of doctors in the discipline of osteopathic medicine. Krause noted that by having the additional training, a major first hurdle in the BHHCS proposal to close the Hot Springsan inability to draw doctors to the area would be addressed.

We would also build the Battle Mountain Research Institute, for further research into the regenerative therapies, along with the Battle Mountain Clinic to treat those veterans and others who require this cutting-edge treatment, Krause said.

He added that the proposal stipulated that it is to be considered in its entirety and that if the VA medical center should close, everything is off the table. This proposal is not mutually exclusive of the one presented by Save the VA, he said of the Hot Springs-area group that is fighting to save the hospital from closure by the federal government.

Krause and Swift said that the technology, which was created in Switzerland by the military and is awaiting FDA approval in the United States, utilizes regenerative or restorative cells created from fetal stem cells to jump-start a patients ability to regenerate skin tissue. After the patients own skin begins to grow, the regenerative cells die, Krause said.

He said that submitting the new proposal through the EIS process was important, since the research would need to be conducted on federal property because South Dakota law does not allow stem cell research at this time.

Swift noted that an important part to the regenerative therapy process was access to mineral water to help hydrate the tissue and fight infection. Such water can be found in Hot Springs.

In response to a question, Krause said that he understands that there is a question involving fetal stem cell research. But what is the greater good? he asked. Do we overlook a veteran who has experienced having all of his skin burned away by an [explosion], instead of developing that single cell that could help? Are you going to walk away from that cell?

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