Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 09-02-08

     1.      Gustav Evacuees Moved To Waco VAMC.   The AP (9/1) reported, "Dozens of veterans are among" the Hurricane Gustav evacuees who have been moved from Chennault Place, "a residential care facility in Lake Charles, La., to the Waco VA Medical Center." Chennault Place patients were also "evacuated to the Waco VA facility during Hurricane Rita three years ago." The Waco Tribune Herald (9/1, Darden, Culp) and the KWTX-TV Waco, TX (9/1) website published similar stories.

2.      HHS, VA Helped Provide Air Evacuation Prior To Gustav.   The Deseret (UT) Morning News (9/1) reported US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt "on Sunday acted to help Louisiana and Texas evacuate scores of patients with special medical needs before Hurricane Gustav arrives." Leavitt "activated the National Disaster Medical System, a federally coordinated operation that can assist state and local officials in dealing with major disasters. With that activation, HHS began "working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to provide air evacuation of 500 medical patients in Texas and an estimated 500 by air from Louisiana."

3.      Hurricane Causes Cancellations, Closures At VA Facilities.   The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (9/2) reports that because of Hurricane Gustav, the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center "has canceled routine outpatient clinic appointments for Tuesday." Decisions "on outpatient clinic appointments for the remainder of this week have not been made."
      The Zanesville (OH) Times Recorder (9/1, Hayhurst) reported, "Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling wants Zanesville’s sister city of Slidell, La., to know that if they need" in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, "it will be provided." The Times Recorder added that the VA "medical facility in Slidell is…on a list of closed clinics in the area due to weather."
      The Biloxi (MI) Sun Herald (9/2) reports, "The Biloxi VA Hospital has announced that all outpatient, specialty and surgical appointments scheduled for today at the Biloxi VA facility have been canceled." Operations "are scheduled to return to normal Wednesday."
      On its website, KTRE-TV Lufkin, TX (9/1) reported, "In response to expected flooding and poor road conditions in the path of Hurricane Gustav," the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center "has cancelled all outpatient appointments at the Charles Wilson VA Outpatient Clinic…on Tuesday, September 2, 2008." In addition, the Beaumont VA Outpatient Clinic "is closed until further notices because of a mandatory evacuation." The Anahuac (TX) Progress (9/2) runs a similar story.
      The Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger (9/2) reports, "The G.V. ‘Sonny’ Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center is closing its outpatient clinics in Natchez and Meadville on Tuesday because of weather conditions that may arise from Hurricane Gustav."   

4.      VA Collaborating On Employer Resource Website.   In his "Veterans’ Journal" column in the Providence (RI) Journal (9/1), George W. Reilly noted that the US Department of Labor "has a new online resource to help employers of veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), two increasingly common consequences of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan." The America’s Heroes at Work website "provides information about TBI and PTSD, as well as tools and guidance on how to implement workplace accommodations and other services." America’s Heroes at Work "is managed jointly" by several departments "in collaboration with other federal agencies engaged in TBI and PTSD programs, including the…Department of Veterans Affairs."

5.      VA Facilities Focusing On Couples Treatment.   The Belleville (IL) News (9/2, Rosenblum) reports the US Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments "are acknowledging that the physical and emotional scars that troops carry home present a sensitive challenge: sexual intimacy and body-image issues that most couples’ therapists are ill-prepared to treat." However, the Minneapolis VA Medical Center "has expanded to focus on sexual and combat trauma for couples, and is refining that treatment with data being collected from 50 military couples, said VA researcher Christopher Erbes. Its work, among the first of its kind in the nation, is modeled after a successful treatment program at the VA National Center for PTSD in Boston."

6.      VA Social Worker To Give Lecture On Mental Illness.   The Oklahoman (9/2, Syth) reports, "Rose State College will present a series of lectures titled ‘The Paradox of Affluence, Choices, Challenges and Consequences.’" One of the lectures, to be given on October 1, is called "Why the Stigma? It is Just Mental Illness." The lecture will be presented by Catherine Lewis, a Veterans Affairs social worker.

7.      Oklahoma City VAMC Planning To Open New Clinic.   Oklahoma’s Daily Ardmoreite (9/1, Robinson) reported, "Veterans in the Ardmore area who need to see a doctor will be going to a different location starting" October 1, when the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration Medical Center "plans to open a clinic in Ardmore. Exactly where that clinic will be located" has "not been finalized."

8.      Officials Say Domiciliary Unit Should Be Ready Soon At West Texas VAMC.   The Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram (9/1, Campbell) reported, "A temporary domiciliary unit should soon be ready" at the West Texas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, "but it may be some time before it begins taking patients, officials said. The domiciliary unit will offer veterans substance abuse treatment and a way to readjust to the community and gain steady employment. A permanent 40-bed unit also is being planned, Interim Director Chris Bacorn said."

9.      Task Force Hopes To Bring New VA Facility To Tennessee.   The Chattanooga (TN) Times Free Press (9/1, Higgins) reported, "The number of seniors who also are veterans is expected to grow over the next five years, creating a need for a veterans home to serve a six-county Southeast Tennessee region, supporters said." Larry McDaris, Bradley County Veterans Services Director, said, "A 120-bed" Veterans Affairs "home for long-term care with an added day care to accommodate up to 80 individuals would serve our area well. The Free Press added, "A task force has formed in Bradley with the aim of bringing such a nursing home here."

10.    Nonprofit Donates Golf Equipment To VA Facilities.   The AP (9/2, Flores) profiles 62-year-old Brian Coleman, who "spends anywhere from 35 to 70 hours a week running Golf Supports Our Troops, a nonprofit that raises money to donate golf equipment to military hospitals and rehabilitation facilities." When starting the nonprofit, Coleman "reached out to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He offered any VA hospital" golf swing training mechanisms, "driving net systems and other equipment. Nineteen facilities accepted, according to Laura B. Balun, director of the VA’s Voluntary Service Office, who coordinated the donations." Coleman "said he’d like to supply even more VA facilities with the equipment, but is now also working on getting high-tech wheelchairs that would allow occupants to be elevated to a near-standing position."