Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-06-08

1. Changes Expected At VA When Obama Takes Office.
2. VAWNYHS Preparing To Expand.  
3. VA Offering Assistance To Troubled Vets.  
4. Former Baseball Ump To Visit With Disabled Vets At Alvin C. York VAMC 
5. Expert Says VA Should Work With Community Agencies On Domestic Violence Issues.  
6. VA Investigating Mishandled Documents At South Carolina Benefits Office.  
7. Disabled Veteran To Meet With VA Hospital Residents  
8. City Council Votes To Accept VA Land Gift.  
9. VA Hospital Officials Say They Have No Choice But To Cut Down Trees.  
10. VA Clinic In New Jersey Expected To Stay Open

HAVE YOU HEARD?
The Veterans Health Administration has designated today, November 6, 2008, as the first annual National Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service Day ”Where Quality of Care Results in Quality Life!” At the end of World War II, no agency or method existed to provide quality prosthetics to America’s disabled soldiers. On November 1, 1945, in response to both Congress and veterans, VA created the Prosthetic Appliance Service. Its purpose: to develop a system through which artificial limbs of the highest quality as well as other prosthetic appliances would be provided to disabled veterans. Today, VA medical centers celebrate and recognize the significant contributions of Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) personnel in delivering world-class quality service to disabled veterans. Observances include presentation of the Under Secretary for Health’s Award for Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service of the Year to the Togus, Maine VA Medical Center by Frederick Downs, Jr., PSAS Chief Consultant. Many medical centers will host presentations for staff and veterans on prosthetics and orthotics and display the unique services and high tech equipment PSAS provides. Wherever you are, stop by your Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service today and thank them for a job well done!

1.      Changes Expected At VA When Obama Takes Office.   The AP (11/6) reports Obama "has vowed to reverse or sharply modify many of the Bush administration’s policies. Based on his campaign promises," there are several "key areas where changes are expected," including at the VA, where Obama "wants to expand" healthcare. Congress "voted in 1996 to do that, but the agency has exercised its authority to suspend enrollments as needed. Obama has said that led to 1 million veterans being turned away, and he has promised to reverse the policy." Obama "also said he would improve screening and treatment for mental health conditions and traumatic brain injury; expand the number of housing vouchers and start a program to help veterans at risk of being homeless; add more rural veterans centers; create an electronic system to transfer medical records from the military; and improve preventative health options."
      Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Expected To Push For Changes At VA.   CQ (11/6, Johnson) reports, "As the new president moves to bring troops home from Iraq and fortify" the US presence in Afghanistan, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee "will be spurring" the VA to "ramp up its capacity to provide medical, readjustment, disability and housing benefits to veterans and their families." The committee "is likely to try to rebuild the VA compensation system from the ground up. That could include creating a uniform information technology system to manage VA claims and figuring out what should be included in claims notification letters."

2.      VAWNYHS Preparing To Expand.   Buffalo Business First (11/6, Drury) reports, "Faced with changing demographics and an influx of women and younger veterans," the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System (VAWNYHS) "is preparing for $26 million in improvements over the next two years" The system "is responding to the same types of changes under way nationwide as VA clients shift from a largely older, male population to younger individuals — many of them women — returning from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, says Suzanne Klinker, associate medical center director."

3.      VA Offering Assistance To Troubled Vets.   The Silver City (NM) Sun-News (11/6, Meeks) profiles the Las Cruces Veterans Center, one of a "network" of such facilities across the country. The Sun-News adds that the Department of Veterans Affairs has "made a focus of treating veterans with combat stress" and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), "according to doctors Jacquelyn Williams and Merranda Marin" with the El Paso VA Health Care System. Additionally, "families of returning veterans are offered education through the VA, in order to prepare them for the changes that have taken place in their soldier."

4.      Former Baseball Ump To Visit With Disabled Vets At Alvin C. York VAMC.   The Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal (11/6) reports, "Former Major League Baseball Umpire Larry Barnett used to get into a lot of arguments to make a living, but disabled veterans" at the Alvin C. York Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Murfreesboro, Tennessee are looking forward to the banter during his visit Thursday, November 6, 2008 as part of the Disabled American Veterans VA Voluntary Service program." Barnett "has been visiting sick and disabled veterans hospitalized at VA medical centers since 1977," entertaining "them with light and humorous baseball stories."

5.      Expert Says VA Should Work With Community Agencies On Domestic Violence Issues.   The Washington University In St. Louis Record (11/5, Martin) reported, "The increasing number of veterans" with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "’raises the risk of domestic violence and its consequences on families and children in communities across the United States,’ says Monica Matthieu, Ph.D., an expert on veteran mental health and an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis." Matthieu argues that while the Department of Veterans Affairs "has mental health services and treatments for PTSD," these "services need to be combined with the specialized domestic violence intervention programs offered by community agencies for those veterans engaging in battering behavior against intimate partners and families.’" The Record added, "Matthieu and Peter Hovmand, Ph.D., domestic violence expert and assistant professor of social work at Washington University, are merging their research interests and are working to design community prevention strategies to address this emerging public health problem."

6.      VA Investigating Mishandled Documents At South Carolina Benefits Office.   In continuing coverage, the Rock Hill (SC) Herald (11/6, Crumbo) reports, "Veterans Affairs officials are investigating why 95 records were erroneously dumped in a shredder bin at the VA office in Columbia." An "unidentified employee" at that office "is under investigation for mishandling the documents, which include new benefits claims and other personal files, VA officials said. ‘I can’t discuss in detail what action may be taken against an employee in this instance until the investigation is complete,’ VA press secretary Alison Aikele said Wednesday." The Herald adds, "The documents slated for destruction were found in the shredder bin Oct. 3 as part of the agency’s inspector general’s review of how veterans records and claims are handled."

7.      Disabled Veteran To Meet With VA Hospital Residents.   The Roseburg (OR) News-Review (11/5, Harshman) reported that on Thursday, 46-year-old disabled veteran Dana Bowman, who lost both his legs in a 1994 accident, "will jump into Roseburg and share his story with Douglas County residents at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in honor of National Prosthetics Day." The News Review added that when Bowman "isn’t jumping out of planes," he "visits…various military hospitals around the country to spend time with and encourage veterans and amputees in the recovery process. ‘It’s a motivator for people who are freshly injured to see a man who went through so much to be able to go through the challenges and triumph over adversity,’ VA prosthetics manager Jim Manser said."

8.      City Council Votes To Accept VA Land Gift.   In continuing coverage, the Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (11/6, LaFontaine) reports the Gulfport City Council "unanimously voted Tuesday to accept the largest gift in the history" of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The "federal government was expected to convey only the northern half of the 92-acre Veterans Affairs property and the rest later, but instead the entire site was given to the city at once. The new Gulfport Redevelopment Commission will now prepare to solicit developers to bring life to designs created by renowned planner Andres Duany."

9.      VA Hospital Officials Say They Have No Choice But To Cut Down Trees.   The Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (11/6, Scallan) reports officials with the Veterans Affairs medical center in Biloxi "said Wednesday they don’t like cutting down any trees on the expansive property, but it’s necessary to make room for needed buildings and parking." The hospital "has started a construction project known as Project Acorn," which "will include a parking garage and several new buildings. So far, 23 trees have been cut down." The Sun Herald adds that after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulfport and Biloxi VA "campuses were combined, which has made for tight quarters in Biloxi."

10.    VA Clinic In New Jersey Expected To Stay Open.   The Allentown (NJ) Examiner (11/6) reports, "The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has announced that the Veterans Administration…clinic at Fort Monmouth, Eatontown, will remain open after the fort closes and will continue providing medical services to the 10,000 veterans and retirees who use it." Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, the "county’s representative on the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority, said she has been in negotiations with VA officials in New Jersey, in Washington and with local hospitals. Currently, she is brokering a public/private partnership that will allow the clinic to remain open, according to a press release from Monmouth County."