A proposal to have Butler Memorial Hospital share land with the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center could provide a model for offering health services to veterans across the country.

That's the reaction of Joseph Stewart, hospital president, to a consultant's recommendation that Butler Memorial seek to lease a portion of the VA site for a new $150 million hospital.

Such an arrangement would have mutual benefits for the hospital and for the federal facility, he said.

Having a new, full-service hospital nearby would allow the VA Medical Center to eliminate its expensive acute-care beds and concentrate on providing outpatient, mental health and skilled nursing services. The VA also could channel its resources toward providing "domiciling" services to homeless veterans.

Depending on the terms of the lease, Butler Memorial could obtain land near the busy Route 68-New Castle Road corridor at little or no cost.

In an Oct. 7 report to hospital trustees, consultants from Hammes Co. recommended that Butler Memorial relocate to the west side of the city of Butler, ideally near Routes 422 and 68.

The combination of good highways, accompanying high traffic volumes, population growth and business development make the area near the VA site a top location for a new hospital, according to Richard Galling, Hammes senior partner.

Hammes was charged with examining five years' worth of previous studies on hospital options and making a recommendation on whether the hospital could afford a new building and whether it should stay on its present site or relocate.

The report confirmed that Butler Memorial could afford to construct a 220-bed facility for $145 million to $155 million. Piece-by-piece rebuilding at the current site on East Brady Street would be more expensive and cause more disruption than building at a new location, consultants said.

While terms of a lease remain to be worked out, the idea of sharing space on VA land got a boost over the summer when VA Secretary Anthony Principi gave his approval to lease negotiations.

While those talks continue, Butler Memorial will keep looking at other locations, hospital officials said.