Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 08-26-08

1. Peake: VA Reaching Out To Vets Suffering From Brain Injuries, Stress.  
2. Peake Apologizes To Veteran’s Family.  
3. VA Weighing Options For Hospital In Nebraska.  
4. Team From Boise VAMC Wins 28 Medals At Golden Age Games.  
5. VA "Super Clinic" Opens In Florida.  
6. Vermont To Host One Of Three Rural Health Resource Centers.  
7. Fargo VAMC To Work With University On Improving Rural Vets’ Health Care.  
8. Groups Criticize VA Plan For GI Bill Benefits Processing.  
9. Stokes VAMC To Host Welcome Home Celebration.  
10. Veterans Creating Artwork To Salute Soldiers In Iraq, Afghanistan. 

     1.      Peake: VA Reaching Out To Vets Suffering From Brain Injuries, Stress.   The San Antonio (TX) Express-News (8/26, Finley) reports, "Having promised to make care for post-traumatic stress and brain injury a priority, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake said the VA is making a strong effort to reach out to vets – including lifting a longtime ban on paid advertising to promote its suicide prevention call center." Peake, who made his comments on Monday while speaking at the 14th annual San Antonio Trauma Symposium, "said the Bush administration is asking for a $93.7 billion budget for the VA in 2009 and that Congress is likely to ‘plus that up’ another $3 billion. The VA will spend $4 billion on mental health services, including a mental health ‘transformation’ effort."
      Concussions In Combat Vets Frequently Overlooked.   In a front page story, the New York Times (8/26, A1, Alvarez) reports on "a growing tide of combat veterans who come home from Iraq and Afghanistan with mild" traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), "or concussions, caused by…explosions. As many as 300,000, or 20 percent, of combat veterans who regularly worked" away from bases "have suffered at least one concussion, according to the latest Pentagon estimates." Tens of thousands of those veterans experience "debilitating" long-term problems, but "some soldiers and their advocates say that complications from mild concussions often are not recognized." This "has happened in large part because there is no quantifiable diagnostic test for the injury, and the language used by the Veterans Affairs Department to rate" TBIs "is vague."

2.      Peake Apologizes To Veteran’s Family.   In continuing coverage, the Washington Times (8/26, Hudson) reports Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake "has apologized to the family of an Army veteran who died last year after being turned away from a Bronx VA hospital" following his refusal to participate in an Alzheimer’s disease study. Joe Fitzgerald "died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — the human form of mad cow disease — less than a month after being dismissed without diagnosis or treatment at James J. Peters VA Medical Center." His widow, Aimee Fitzgerald, "demanded answers from the VA as to whether human research testing is taking a priority over the health care of veterans after the agency responded that the Alzheimer’s study was a ‘mandate.’ ‘I can only apologize that Mrs. Fitzgerald perceived a sense of callousness,’" Peake "said in a letter to the editor at The Times. ‘It will renew our emphasis to VA staff about sensitivity in communicating.’"

3.      VA Weighing Options For Hospital In Nebraska.   WOWT-TV Omaha (8/25, 4:02 p.m. CT) broadcast, "Omaha’s aging veterans hospital is getting in line for improvements." The Department of Veterans Affairs "has contracted a Tucson, Arizona, company to look into options. VA Secretary James Peake got a firsthand look at the hospital’s rusty pipes and its outdated air-handling system back in June. Options could include completely renovating the old place, building a new hospital, or sharing facilities with the University of Nebraska Medical Center." The AP (8/25) published a similar story. 

4.      Team From Boise VAMC Wins 28 Medals At Golden Age Games.   The Idaho Statesman (8/26, Kennard) reports a team of competitors from the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is bringing back 28 medals from the…Golden Age Games." The Statesman notes that in a press release, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake called the games "a premier sporting event for our senior veterans."

5.      VA "Super Clinic" Opens In Florida.   WEAR-TV Pensacola, FL (8/25, 11:04 a.m. CT) broadcast that "local veterans are being treated in one of the most state-of-the-art veterans care facilities in the country. The new VA super clinic…is located" in Pensacola." The "$45 million dollar" facility "replaces three local VA clinics that closed this past weekend." The Pensacola (FL) News Journal (8/25, Griggs) reported that the clinic was scheduled to open on Monday.

6.      Vermont To Host One Of Three Rural Health Resource Centers.   The Rutland (VT) Herald (8/25, O’Gorman) reported, "Vermont will soon be used as a testing ground for programs seeking to help veterans in rural areas obtain easier access to health care." The US Department of Veterans Affairs "announced the White River Junction VA Medical Center will soon host a Veterans Rural Health Resource Center, an office devoted to increasing medical access for rural veterans." According to Dr. William Weeks, director of the VA Rural Health Resource Center’s eastern region, the White River Junction center will receive $2 million a year for the next five years. White River Junction, along with Iowa City and Salt Lake City, "is one of three locations chosen nationwide in a competitive process from among 11 proposed sites, Weeks said."

7.      Fargo VAMC To Work With University On Improving Rural Vets’ Health Care.   KVLY-TV Fargo, ND (8/25, 5:25 p.m. CT) broadcast that a "new grant aims to give rural veterans better health care." The University of North Dakota’s Center for Rural Health "will work together with the Fargo Veterans Administration Medical Center on veterans care. A five-year, $10 million Federal grant supports a new network of health care facilities and schools in the Midwest." The KMOT-TV Minot, ND (8/25) published a similar story.

8.      Groups Criticize VA Plan For GI Bill Benefits Processing.   Federal Daily (8/26) reports, "The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the union’s National Veterans Affairs Council (NVAC) on Aug. 22 criticized" a Department of Veterans Affairs "move to outsource the processing of GI Bill education benefits. The groups said the privatization effort would eliminate the expertise of federal employees – and could cost more than 400 career civilian employees their jobs."

9.      Stokes VAMC To Host Welcome Home Celebration.   The Canton (OH) Repository (8/25) reported the Louis B. Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Brecksville, Ohio, "will host a welcome home celebration Sept. 14 to honor and support all area National Guard, Reserve and active duty service members who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the global war on terrorism." The "family event…will include…VA benefits information."

10.    Veterans Creating Artwork To Salute Soldiers In Iraq, Afghanistan.   The New York Daily News (8/26, Shelby) reports, "At the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in Bay Ridge, veterans are creating sculptures, oil paintings, collages and even a diorama to salute the men and women of the military in Afghanistan and Iraq." The artwork "will be entered in a national VA contest, with the winner’s work featured on a poster for the upcoming Veterans Day, Nov. 11." Art therapist Melanie Zarabi, who "is overseeing the veterans’ project," said doing artwork about wars can help veterans face their traumas in a safe way.