(10) delegate such duties and powers to employees as the Administrator considers necessary or appropriate, whose official acts performed within the scope of the delegated authority shall have the same force and effect as though performed by the Administrator; (11) authorize the use of funds of the Service when available, subject to such regulations as the Administrator may deem appropriate, and without regard to the provisions of section 521 and 543 of title 31, for the purpose of cashing checks, money orders, and similar instruments in nominal amounts for the payment of money presented by veterans hospitalized or domiciled at hospitals and homes of the Veterans' Administration, and by other persons authorized by section 4203 of this title to make purchases at canteens. Such checks, money orders, and other similar instruments may be cashed outright or may be accepted, subject to strict administrative controls, in payment for merchandise or services, and the difference between the amount of the purchase and the amount of the tendered instrument refunded in cash. (Amended P.L. 86-109, § 1; P.L. 94-581, § 210 (d).) § 4203. Operation of Service (a) The canteens at hospitals and homes of the Veterans' Administration shall be primarily for the use and benefits of veterans hospitalized or domiciled at such hospitals and homes. Service at such canteens may also be furnished to personnel of the Veterans' Administration and recognized veterans' organizations employed at such hospitals and homes and to other persons so employed, to the families of all the foregoing persons who reside at the hospital or home concerned, and to relatives and other persons while visiting any of the persons named in this subsection; however, servico to any person not hospitalized, domiciled, or residing at the hospital or home shall be limited to the sale of merchandise or services for consumption or use on the premises. (b) Service at canteens other than those established at hospitals and homes shall be limited to sales of merchandise and services for consumption or use on the premises, to personnel employed at such establishments, their visitors, and other persons at such establishments on official business. §4204. Financing of Service To finance the establishment, maintenance, and operation of the Service there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, from time to time, such amounts as are necessary to provide for (1) the acquisition of necessary furniture, furnishings, fixtures, and equipment. for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of canteens, warehouses, and storage depots; (2) stocks of merchandise and supplies for canteens and reserve stocks of same in warehouses and storage depots; (3) salaries, wages, and expenses of all employees; (4) administrative and operation expenses; and (5) adequate working capital for each canteen and for the Service as a whole. Amounts appropriated under the authority contained in this chapter, amounts heretofore appropriated to carry out Public Law 636, Seventy-ninth Congress, and all income from canteen operations become and will be administered as a revolving fund to effectuate the provisions of this chapter. (Amended P.L. 92-310, § 209.) § 4205. Revolving fund The revolving fund shall be deposited in a checking account with the Treasury of the United States. Such amounts thereof as the Administrator may determine to be necessary to establish and maintain operating accounts for the various canteens may be deposited in checking accounts in other depositaries selected by the Administrator. § 4206. Budget of Service The Service shall prepare annually and submit a budget program as provided for wholly owned Government corporations by sections 841-869 of title 31, which shall contain an estimate of the needs of the Service for the ensuing fiscal year including an estimate of the amount required to restore any impairment of the revolving fund resulting from operations of the current fiscal year. Any balance in the revolving fund at the close of the fiscal year in excess of the estimated requirements for the ensuing fiscal year shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. § 4207. Audit of accounts The Service shall maintain a set of accounts which shall be audited by the Comptroller General in accordance with the provisions of the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950. (Amended P.L. 93–604, § 704.) § 4208. Service to be independent unit It is the purpose of this chapter that, under control and supervision of the Administrator, the Service shall function as an independent unit in the Veterans' Administration and shall have exclusive control over all its activities including sales, procurement and supply, finance, including disbursements, and personnel management, except as otherwise herein provided. PART VI-ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY CHAPTER 81. Acquisition and Operation of Hospital and Domiciliary Facilities; Procurement and Supply-- 82. Assistance in Establishing New State Medical Schools; Grants to Affiliated Medical Schools; Assistance to Health Manpower Training Institutions 83. Acceptance of Gifts and Bequests. 85. Disposition of Deceased Veterans' Personal Property-- Sec. 5001 5070 5101 5201 - - - - - - - - CHAPTER 81-ACQUISITION AND OPERATION OF HOSPITAL AND DOMICILIARY FACILITIES; PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY Sec. CHAPTER 81-Continued SUBCHAPTER I—PROVISIONS RELATING TO HOSPITALS AND HOMES-continued 5006. Property formerly owned by National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. 5007. Parital relinquishment of legislative jurisdiction. SUBCHAPTER II—PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY 5011. Revolving supply fund. 5012. Authority to procure and dispose of property and to negotiate for common services. 5013. Procurement of prosthetic appliances. 5014. Grant of easements in Government-owned lands. SUBCHAPTER III-STATE HOME FACILITIES FOR FURNISHING DOMICILIARY, NURSING HOME, AND HOSPITAL CARE 5031. Definitions. 5032. Declaration of purpose. 5033. Authorization of appropriations. 5034. General regulations. 5035. Applications with respect to projects; payments. 5036. Recapture provisions. 5037. State control of operations. SUBCHAPTER IV—SHARING OF MEDICAL FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND INFORMATION 5051. Statement of congressional purpose. 5052. Definitions. 5053. Specialized medical resources. 5054. Exchange of medical information. 5055. Pilot programs; grants to medical schools. 5056. Coordination with health services development activities carried out under the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974. 5057. Reports to Congress. Subchapter I-Provisions Relating to Hospitals and Homes § 5001. Hospital and domiciliary facilities (a) (1) The Administrator, subject to the approval of the President, shall provide hospitals, domiciliaries, and out-patient dispensary facilities for veterans entitled under this title to hospital or domiciliary care or medical services. Such hospitals, domiciliaries, and other facilities may be provided by (A) purchase, replacement, or remodeling or extension of existing plants, or (B) construction of such facilities on sites already owned by the United States or on sites acquired by purchase, condemnation, gift, or otherwise. (2) The Administrator, subject to the approval of the President, is authorized to establish and operate not less than one hundred and twenty-five thousand hospital beds in facilities over which the Administrator has direct jurisdiction for the care and treatment of eligible veterans who are tuberculous, neuropsychiatric, medical, and surgical cases, and the Administrator shall staff and maintain, in such a manner as to insure the immediate acceptance and timely and complete care of patients, sufficient beds and other treatment capacities to accommodate, and provide such care to, eligible veterans applying for admission and found to be in need of hospital care or medical services. The Administrator shall maintain the bed and treatment capacities of all Veterans' Administration medical facilities so as to insure the ac cessibility and availability of such beds and treatment capacities to eligible veterans in all States and to minimize delays in admissions and in the provision of such care and of services pursuant to section 612 of this title. The Chief Medical Director shall periodically analyze agencywide admission policies and the records of those eligible veterans who apply for hospital care and medical services but are rejected or not immediately admitted or provided such care or services, and the Administrator shall annually advise the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the results of such analysis and the number of any additional beds and treatment capacities and the appropriate staffing and funds there for found necessary to meet the needs of such veterans for such necessary care and services. (3) The Administrator, subject to the approval of the President, shall establish and operate not less than ten thousand beds in the fiscal year 1980 and in each fiscal year thereafter for the furnishing of nursing home care to eligible veterans in facilities over which the Administrator has direct jurisdiction. The nursing beds authorized by this paragraph shall be in addition to the hospital beds provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection. (Amended P.L. 88-450, § 1; P.L. 89-311, § 8; P.L. 93-82, § 301(a); P.L. 94–581, §§ 114, 206 (a).) (b) Hospitals, domiciliaries, and other medical facilities provided by the Administrator (including nursing home facilities for which the Administrator contracts under section 620 of this title) shall be of fire, earthquake, and other natural disaster resistant construction in accordance with standards which the Administrator shall prescribe on a State or regional basis after surveying appropriate State and local laws, ordinances, and building codes and climatic and seismic conditions pertinent to each such facility. When an existing plant is purchased, it shall be remodeled to comply with the requirements stated in the first sentence of this subsection. In order to carry out this subsection, the Administrator shall appoint an Advisory Committee on Structural Safety of Veterans' Administration Facilities, on which shall serve at least one architect and one structural engineer expert in fire, earthquake, and other natural disaster resistance who shall not be employees of the Federal Government, to advise the Administrator on all matters of structural safety in the construction and remodeling of Veterans' Administration facilities in accordance with the requirement of this subsection, and which shall approve regulations prescribed thereunder. The Associate Deputy Administrator, the Chief Medical Director, or the Chief Medical Director's designee, and the Veterans' Administration official charged with the responsibility for construction shall be ex officio members of such committee. (Amended P.L. 93-82, § 301 (b); P.L. 94-581, § 210(e) (1).) (c) The location of each hospital or domiciliary and its nature (whether for domiciliary care or the treatment of tuberculosis, neuropsychiatric cases, or general medical and surgical cases) shall be within the discretion of the Administrator, subject to the approval of the President. (d) The Administrator may accept gifts or donations for any of the purposes of this section. (e) The Administrator, subject to the approval of the President, may use as hospitals, domiciliaries, or out-patient dispensary facilities such suitable buildings, structures, and grounds owned by the United States on March 3, 1925, as may be available for such purposes, and the President may by Executive order transfer any such buildings, structures, and grounds to the control and jurisdiction of the Veterans' Administration upon the request of the Administrator. (f) As used in this section and in sections 5002 and 5003 of this title, the term "hospitals, domiciliaries, or out-patient dispensary facilities" includes necessary buildings and auxiliary structures, mechanical equipment, approach work, roads, and trackage facilities leading thereto, sidewalks abutting hospital reservations, vehicles, livestock, furniture, equipment, accessories, accommodations for officers, nurses, and attending personnel, and proper and suitable recreational facilities. (g) The Administrator may make contributions to local authorities toward, or for, the construction of traffic controls, road improvements, or other devices adjacent to Veterans' Administration medical facilities when deemed necessary for safe ingress or egress. (Added P.L. =93-82, § 301 (c).) (h) When the Administrator determines, in accordance with regulations which the Administrator shall prescribe, that a Veterans' Administration facility serves a substantial number of veterans with limited English-speaking ability, the Administrator shall establish and implement procedures, upon the recommendation of the Chief Medical Director, to ensure the identification of sufficient numbers of individuals on such facility's staff who are fluent in both the language most appropriate to such veterans and in English and whose responsibilities shall include providing guidance to such veterans and to appropriate Veterans' Administration staff members with respect to cultural sensitivities and bridging linguistic and cultural differences. (Added P.L. 95-201, § 4 (c).) § 5002. Construction and repair of buildings The construction of new hospitals, domiciliaries and out-patient dispensary facilities, or the replacement, extension, alteration, remodeling, or repair of all such facilities shall be done in such a manner as the President may determine. The President may require the architectural, engineering, constructing, or other forces of any of the departments of the Government to do or assist in such work, and the President may employ individuals and agencies not connected with the Government, if in the opinion of the President such is desirable, at such compensation as the President may consider reasonable. (Amended P.L. 94-581, § 210 (e) (2).) § 5003. Use of Armed Forces facilities The Administrator and the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Navy may enter into agreements and contracts for the mutual use or exchange of use of hospitals and domiciliary facilities, and such supplies, equipment, and material as may be needed to operate such facilities properly, or for the transfer, without reimbursement of appropriations, of facilities, supplies, equipment, or material necessary and proper for authorized care for veterans, except that at no time shall the Administrator enter into any agreement which will result in a permanent reduction of Veterans' |