Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 09-22-08

1. Senior VA Physicians Call For Improved DOD-VA Transition Methods.
2. California Homeless Veterans Facility Receives "Prestigious" VA Award.  
3. Hefner VAMC To Focus On Mental Health And Long-Term Care.  
4. Medical Facility Manager Asks VA To Expand VA Clinic.
5. Walla Walla VAMC Called "One Of Nation’s Best."  
6. WG Hefner VAMC Eliminating Departments To Focus Care.  
7. Long Beach VA Launches Program To "Ease" Vets Into College.  
8. Jacksonville National Cemetery Dedicated.  
9. VA Honors POWs, MIAs.  
10. GSA, VET-Force Team Up To Assist Companies Owned By Disabled Vets.

1.      Senior VA Physicians Call For Improved DOD-VA Transition Methods.   The Los Angeles Times (9/21, Spiegel, 833K) reports, "Senior physicians with the veterans health system in Los Angeles told the top U.S. military officer Saturday that the Pentagon needs to overhaul the way it discharges troops because hundreds are leaving the armed forces with undiagnosed combat-related mental health problems. … The doctors said that because of the stigma attached to combat stress disorders, few troops acknowledge or seek help for psychological problems while in the military, meaning most remain undiagnosed until they run into family or work problems in the civilian world." Dr. Robert Rubin, chief of mental health for the Los Angeles VA healthcare system, argued for "a gradual discharge process with milestones" to improve transition.

2.      California Homeless Veterans Facility Receives "Prestigious" VA Award.   The San Mateo Daily News (9/21, Oremus) profiles Gulf War veteran Oliver Perry, who was treated "for bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System last year" and boarded at the Systems’ Irvin Goodwin’s Homeless Veterans Emergency Housing Facility. The Irvin Facility recently "received the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Service to Homeless Programs from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs," an award which the Daily News calls "a prestigious recognition for an initiative that has expanded rapidly in recent years to tackle the vast and growing problem of veteran homelessness."

3.      Hefner VAMC To Focus On Mental Health And Long-Term Care.   The Salisbury (NC) Post (9/21, Nagem) reports W.G. "Bill" Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is eliminating its emergency and inpatient services." The facility "will focus mainly on mental health and long-term care, said Carol Waters, public affairs officer." Waters added that the hospital will work with local hospitals and health care facilities to meet the medical and surgical needs of veterans. The Post added, "Carolyn Adams, director of the Hefner VA, met with hospital staff Friday. Employees were told that no one will lose their jobs, Waters said."
      Vets Suffering From PTSD Help Train Neglected Dogs.   On its website, WIFR-TV Rockford, IL (9/21) reported veterans are "fighting PTSD…through the ‘Circle of Change,’" a program in South Beloit, Illinois, that helps "train neglected dogs." Veterans "must be referred" to the program "by a mental health physician."

4.      Medical Facility Manager Asks VA To Expand VA Clinic.   The (MA) Daily Item (9/21, Jourgensen) reports that Dr. Daniel Wistran, managing partner of the Boston Street doctors building, "is attempting to convince the U.S. Veterans Administration to expand the existing 1,000 square foot veterans’ clinic in the building to a 6,000-7,000 square foot facility. ‘They haven’t agreed but there’s a lot of goodwill between us and the VA,’ Wistran said." Dr. Wistran "envisions the expanded facility providing a variety of veterans’ medical needs, in particular head injury and mental health care for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans."

5.      Walla Walla VAMC Called "One Of Nation’s Best."   In a Walla Walla (WA) Union-Bulletin (9/21, Duthie) op-ed highlighting "the excellent hospital care" available in the Walla Walla region, the Union-Bulletin’s publisher notes that "we are equally fortunate to have the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, one of the nation’s best VA hospitals. This facility serves as a model for veterans’ care and its services will be enhanced when a new facility is constructed."

6.      WG Hefner VAMC Eliminating Departments To Focus Care.   The Salisbury (NC) Post (9/21) reports, "The W.G. ‘Bill’ Hefner VA Medical Center is eliminating its emergency, surgery and inpatient services. The center will focus on mental health and long-term care, according to a release from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Durham."

7.      Long Beach VA Launches Program To "Ease" Vets Into College.   The Long Beach Press-Telegram (9/21, Butler) reports, "Cal State Long Beach this year has launched a special program to ease returning veterans’ entry into college and the work force. The Veterans University, which began in January, also is working with the VA Long Beach Healthcare System to connect veterans with needed medical services." Patrick C. O’Rourke, director of Veterans University, said, "There is another opportunity here to create another ‘greatest generation,’ and we don’t want to miss that opportunity."

8.      Jacksonville National Cemetery Dedicated.   In continuing coverage, the Florida Times-Union (9/22, Bull) reports, "Hundreds of people gathered Sunday afternoon to dedicate the Jacksonville National Cemetery." The facility "has been in the works for years, and construction began last month," but "Sunday’s ceremony made it official." The "first burials are expected in December or January."
      VA To Offer Grave Site Medallions.   In his "Veterans’ Journal" column in the Providence (RI) Journal (9/22), George W. Reilly reports, "Family members of veterans who died on or after Nov. 1, 1990 will soon be able to request a medallion for headstones and grave markers to signify" veteran status. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which is designing the medallion, "anticipates that it will be available in spring 2009. It will be offered as an alternative to the government-furnished headstone or marker."

9.      VA Honors POWs, MIAs.   In continuing coverage, the Vancouver (WA) Columbian (9/21, Raftery) reported that on Saturday, "some 100 prisoners of war and their relatives" visited the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which was observing POW-MIA Recognition Day.
      The Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram (9/18, Campbell) reported prisoners-of-war and veterans were honored for their "service Wednesday as part of the annual POW-MIA Banquet, put on" by the West Texas Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Social Work Service. 10.    GSA, VET-Force Team Up To Assist Companies Owned By Disabled Vets.   In his "Veterans’ Journal" column in the Providence (RI) Journal (9/22), George W. Reilly reports, "The Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force) recently became the first veterans group to sign an agreement with the General Services Administration to bolster the federal agency’s efforts to spend 3 percent of its procurement dollars on companies owned by service-disabled veterans." The "3 percent allocation was committed by President Bush in a 2004 executive order." Reilly adds, "VET-Force was organized in 1998 to advocate for the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999, which acknowledged that veterans, particularly service-disabled ones, need additional help to form