Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 10-02-08

1. VA Sponsoring Summer Clinic For Disabled Vets.
2. VA Awards Contract For New Guam Clinic.  
3. VA, DOD Electronic Record Sharing Project To Expand.  
4. Vets Angered By Plans For Hefner VAMC.  
5. Vietnam Vet Praises VA Hospital.  
6. Committee Agrees To Hold Hearing On VA-LSU Hospital Project.  
7. VA Opens Clinic In Indiana.  
8. VA Facilities To Open Next Month In Georgia, Ohio.  
9. Nashville VAMC Participates In Disaster Drill.  
10. Bath VAMC Offering Flu Vaccination Clinics.

1.      VA Sponsoring Summer Clinic For Disabled Vets.   In continuing coverage, the American Forces Press Service (10/1, Miles) reported, "More than 50 recently wounded veterans…are experiencing the healing power of recreation" through the first National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic Pilot Program. The clinic, being held this week in California, is "sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs." Dr. James B. Peake, the agency’s secretary, "called the clinic a therapeutic extension of the top-quality care VA medical centers offer young veterans every day." The American Forces Press Service noted that the summer clinic "is the newest of five VA-sponsored events each year that give about 1,800 veterans venues to showcase their athletic abilities and creative talents while building bonds with other disabled veterans."
      Clinic Sponsor Also Helped Pay For New Fisher House.   In a press release published by Business Wire (10/1), TriWest Healthcare Alliance said it helped fund a Fisher House that will be opened House at the Naval Medical Center San Diego this Friday. The house "is the latest in a long line of organizations and programs TriWest supports for military members in San Diego, including" sponsoring the VA’s "newest rehabilitative event for injured veterans, the National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic." 

2.      VA Awards Contract For New Guam Clinic.   In continuing coverage, Guam’s Pacific Daily News (10/2, Limtiaco) reports the Department of Veterans Affairs "yesterday announced a contractor has been selected to build Guam’s new veterans clinic." On Wednesday, Reliable Builders President Jong Kim "said the company’s winning bid was approximately $4.9 million." The Pacific Daily News notes that in a written statement, VA Secretary James Peake , who has been in Hawaii this week "attending a Department of the Interior summit on the ‘Future of Health Care in the Insular Areas,’" said, "With this new clinic, VA will be better suited to serve…veterans living on Guam."
      VA To Be Represented On Healthcare Task Force.   The Saipan Tribune (10/2, Eaton) reports that on Wednesday, at the Insular Areas Health Summit taking place in Honolulu, Hawaii, US Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that a new Federal agency has been formed to assess the healthcare needs of the US insular areas, which include Guam and American Samoa. The Tribune said member of a task force to be established within the agency "will include representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, Defense, Veterans Affairs and the Interior." Kempthorne, VA Secretary James B. Peake "and two ranking officials" from Defense and HHS "said their pact will raise the level of care in the territories." The pact "follows the release this month of an Interior Department inspector general report that spotlighted dilapidated facilities, overworked personnel and an inadequate supply of medicines and specialized care in the territories."
      The Honolulu Advertiser (10/2, Dingeman), which, publishes a similar story, reports Kempthorne "said the task force will issue a report by June 2009." Kempthorne and Peake "also announced several funding initiatives, which include" the "award of a $4.5 million contract to build a clinic on Guam to serve veterans there."
      Peake Lays Wreath At National Memorial Cemetery Of The Pacific.   On its website, KITV-TV Honolulu (10/1) reported Peake "laid a wreath at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl on Wednesday morning." It was Peake’s "first visit to the memorial since he took his post in Dec. 20. The secretary" also "talked about improving the benefits of veterans. ‘It’s a constant review of what the needs of veterans are, because what we really want to do is enable them to be successful in life as they move back in and be citizens in this great country. They’re the ones that are going to be leading in the future,’ Peake said."
      VA To Reimburse American Samoa Facility.   Pacific Magazine (10/1) reported, "American Samoa Congress Delegate Faleomavaega Eni…said" Tuesday that the US Veterans Administration has agreed to reimburse the LBJ Medical Center in American Samoa for services offered to US military veterans who have service-related illnesses or disabilities. Faleomavaega "said the VA’s change of policy effectively gives veterans in the territory the same no-charge medical services that other retirees get in locations" with a VA hospital or clinic.

3.      VA, DOD Electronic Record Sharing Project To Expand.   The first story in Ron Seman’s column in Ohio’s News-Leader (10/2) reports, "Instant electronic medical information from the Department of Defense about severely wounded troops soon will be transferred to four Department of Veterans Affairs special treatment centers." The two agencies "completed a successful pilot project sharing patient information between Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Polytrauma Unit at the Tampa, Fla. VA Medical Center." That project will now be expanded to "share enhanced data between VA’s four polytrauma centers." In commenting on the expansion, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake "said the announcement represents a significant step forward in…efforts" to make all VA and Defense electronic patient records work together.

4.      Vets Angered By Plans For Hefner VAMC.   In continuing coverage, the Salisbury (NC) Post (10/2, Burchette) reports that on Tuesday night, dozens of local veterans urged Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center Director Carolyn Adams "withstood more than two hours of questions and withering criticism of the plans to make major changes" at her facility. Veterans "said they were ambushed with the announcement on Sept. 19 that the hospital will be making a transition away from inpatient, emergency and surgical services to a long-term and mental-health facility for veterans." Adams "tried to explain the decision, while telling veterans she was there to listen and take their suggestions back to VA officials."

5.      Vietnam Vet Praises VA Hospital.   In his column in South Carolina’s Island Packet (9/29), David Lauderdale published an essay by Tommie Peeples. When introducing the essay, which is about Peeples’ World War II veteran father, Lauderdale noted that Bennie, a Vietnam veteran, "is fighting cancer." Bennie "says the Veterans Affairs hospital in Charleston ‘has been wonderful to me. They have great doctors, nurses and staff who care, regardless of what is said about some departments of the VA.’"

6.      Committee Agrees To Hold Hearing On VA-LSU Hospital Project.   The New Orleans Times-Picayune (10/1, Hammer) reported, "Arguing that it’s not too late for the New Orleans City Council to wield some control over plans to build a joint state-federal hospital complex in downtown New Orleans, advocates for part of a historic neighborhood targeted for demolition persuaded" the council’s Housing and Human Needs Committee "Monday to hold a large public hearing on the…project." Committee Chairwoman Stacy Head "said the hearing" on the joint Veterans Administration-Louisiana State University hospital project would probably be held during the week of Oct. 13.

7.      VA Opens Clinic In Indiana.   On its website, WTHI-TV Terre Haute, IN (10/1, Grant) reported, "Veterans groups and local residents in Knox County spent months trying to convince" the Department of Veterans Affairs to open an out-patient clinic, and that "push…paid off" when the VA opened a "9,000 square foot facility" on Willow Street in Vincennes, Indiana. Officials "estimate there are 12,000 veterans in and around Knox County who can take advantage of this facility, and those numbers are expected to get a lot bigger before the end of the year when members of the national guard who are now in Iraq come home." WTHI added, "An open house for the public is scheduled for October 30th."

8.      VA Facilities To Open Next Month In Georgia, Ohio.   On its website, WMAZ-TV Macon, GA (10/1) reported, "About 2,700 Central Georgia veterans" will soon be able to "get health care closer to home," because the Carl Vinson Veterans Affairs Medical Center "plans to open an outpatient clinic in Perry next month." Janine Cameron with the Dublin VA "says the 2,700 eligible veterans in the Perry area will receive letters in the mail about the new facility and its services with in the next month. She says the VA will also add clinics in Brunswick and Milledgeville by October of next year."
      The last story in the Mansfield (OH) News Journal’s (10/1) "Area News Briefs" column reported, "The Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Affairs Ambulatory Care Center will open" on November 12th. The "facility is located…in Columbus, and will feature a variety of new and expanded services."

9.      Nashville VAMC Participates In Disaster Drill.   The lead story in the "Briefs" column appearing on the WTVF-TV Nashville, TN (10/1) website reported the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center was one of four Midstate hospitals that "took part in a large disaster drill Tuesday. Sources said the timing of the drill — just days before the presidential debate at Belmont University — is not coincidental."

10.    Bath VAMC Offering Flu Vaccination Clinics.   The Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette (10/1) reported the Bath Veterans Affairs Medical Center "will hold flu vaccination clinics for veterans from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Oct. 8 in Room 305 of Building 76, the main hospital building at the center." Veterans "unable to attend" the clinics "can schedule an appointment by calling their assigned primary care team."