Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 10-20-08

1. VA’s ALS Presumption Called "Unprecedented." 
2. VA Dental Hygienist Honored.  
3. VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Focuses On Community Re-Entry.  
4. Hefner VAMC Helps Over 75 People Register To Vote.  
5. Nonprofit Mental Health Group Expands To West Virginia.  
6. Official Says VA Has Beefed Up Its Programs For Homeless Female Vets.  
7. VA, Other Agencies Part Of Transition Planning Efforts.  
8. Summer Clinic Helps Lift Veteran’s Spirits.  
9. County To Review Cemetery Proposal.  
10. Project Hopes To Learn How To Provide Better Care To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets. 

     1.      VA’s ALS Presumption Called "Unprecedented."   The San Jose Mercury News (10/19, Simerman) reports on veterans with ALS, noting that studies have "found military veterans at a 60 percent greater risk of ALS than the general population." This research "recently prompted VA Secretary James Peake to grant full access to lifetime health care, disability and death benefits to all veterans suffering from ALS." According to the Mercury News, "Veterans groups called the new regulations…unprecedented for granting full benefits for a disease with no clear cause to all veterans." Secretary Peake called ALS "a disease that progresses rapidly," which means "there simply isn’t time to develop the evidence needed to support compensation claims before many veterans become seriously ill."

2.      VA Dental Hygienist Honored.   The eighth story in the Hagerstown (MD) Herald-Mail‘s (10/20) "Business People" column reports, Mary E. Marshall, a Veterans Affairs dental hygienist, "recently received the Secretary’s Hands and Heart Award," which is "presented annually to a VA center employee who has demonstrated dedication and compassion in the delivery of patient care. Marshall has 36 years of service at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, and has been a dental hygienist for 13 years."

3.      VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Focuses On Community Re-Entry.   The Richmond Times-Dispatch (10/19, Ben-David) reports, "Due to high-tech body armor, rapid evacuation plans and advances in battlefield medical procedures, a relatively small percentage of soldiers die, but many are wounded," leading to an increased need for polytrauma care. The director of one of the VA’s polytrauma centers says VA rehabilitation "focuses on [the] community re-entry needs of the individual," using "a holistic approach to guiding individuals towards the highest level of independence."
      Veterans Hospital Opens Polytrauma Center.   The Tampa Tribune (10/19, Peterson) reports on Friday’s opening of the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital," which "has apartments for injured troops who no longer need to be hospitalized but aren’t ready to live on their own." A hospital official said "it’s the first facility of its kind in the VA system." Brig. Gen. Michael J. Kussman, the VA’s undersecretary for health, said the center’s "purpose is to help injured troops ‘move closer and closer to the day they return to their communities."

4.      Hefner VAMC Helps Over 75 People Register To Vote.   The final story in the Salisbury (NC) Post‘s (10/18) "Political Notebook" column reported officials at the Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center "report they ‘provided voter registration information to over 75 people this campaign season.’" Nancy Brown-Perry, "chief of Voluntary Services, said in a press release, "Helping our veteran-patients register and vote has always been important at Hefner." The Post added that nationwide, the VA’s 153 medical centers "provided voter registration information to more than 6,000 veterans."

  5.      Nonprofit Mental Health Group Expands To West Virginia.   WTAP-TV Parkersburg, WV (10/19) reports, "Army statistics show almost 2200 soldiers attempted some form of self-injury last year and this is up from about 400 in 2002. There are programs available to help and one is about to kick off in West Virginia," The national nonprofit Give an Hour "links mental health professionals who donate a minimum of an hour a week for a year with returning veterans and their families."

6.      Official Says VA Has Beefed Up Its Programs For Homeless Female Vets.   The AP (10/19, Hannah) reported Carisa Dogen, one of "7,000 to 8,000 homeless female" US military veterans as estimated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, "is among the few who are hoping to benefit from new housing specifically for female veterans, an initiative homeless advocates say falls far short of what is needed." An "apartment building for female veterans on the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus" is "expected to be filled by mid-November. The facility "is one of the largest of about a dozen around the nation, said Peter Dougherty, director of homeless-veterans programs for Veterans Affairs." The "VA estimates that 154,000 veterans were homeless on any given night last year, about a 20 percent decrease" from 2006. Dougherty "said the number is down in part because the department has beefed up its housing programs." He "said the VA gives funding priority to groups that specifically serve women and the number of sites for women-only programs has increased as a result." A separate AP (10/20) story lists VA programs available to assist homeless vets.

7.      VA, Other Agencies Part Of Transition Planning Efforts.   The Federal Times (10/20, Carlstrom) reports, "Last week, career executives" from across all agencies "were chosen as temporary replacements for the top tiers of politically appointed leaders who will be departing between now and…the Bush administration’s last day." The Office of Management and Budget is coordinating the efforts that will be made by this team of executives, and the Times says some of the agencies involved "have embraced their career executives as part of their transition process." For example, John Kamensky, "a senior fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government who has written extensively" about the transition, "said the Veterans Affairs Department had…done a good job of selecting qualified career executives and soliciting their input."

8.      Summer Clinic Helps Lift Veteran’s Spirits.   On its website, ABC News (10/19, Grayson) profiled 30-year-old disabled Iraq veteran Michael Fradera, 30, who experienced depression and anger after losing both of his legs to an IED explosion. But Fradera "soon found solace in an unlikely source: a weeklong sports clinic for disabled veterans." Fradera "joined over 50 recently injured military veterans who set out to overcome both mental and physical disabilities by participating in the first National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic." The clinic, the "newest national rehabilitation special event sponsored" by the Department of Veterans Affairs, "introduced wounded veterans to sports such as adaptive surfing, sailing, kayaking, cycling and track and field for week-long event in San Diego, Sept. 28 through Oct. 3."

9.      County To Review Cemetery Proposal.   The Monterey County (CA) Herald (10/19, Howe) reports, "A final draft master plan for the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord will come before the Monterey County Board of Supervisors when it meets Tuesday." According to the Herald, "the state is eligible for a federal cemetery construction grant, but the federal government won’t build it because the Fort Ord site is too close to the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella to comply with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs policies for establishing cemeteries."

10.    Project Hopes To Learn How To Provide Better Care To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets.   The fourth story in the Hagerstown (MD) Herald-Mail‘s (10/20) "Business Briefs" column reports, "HMS Technologies Inc. recently announced it will be adding a health services division" that "will provide health research and communications for the federal government, including a project" for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The goal of the project, which "initially will consist of a study of 60,000 veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom," is to "provide better health care for veterans."