Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-20-08

1. Three Reportedly In Running For Obama’s VA Secretary.
2. Performance Award Given To DCVAMC.  
3. Filner Proposes "De-Boot Camp," Major Changes At VA.
4. Dog Training Program Helps Vets Suffering From PTSD.
5. Army Official Says DOD Is Reforming The Way Injured Soldiers Are Treated.  
6. Organization Provides Help To Sight-Impaired Vets.  
7. Groundbreaking Ceremony To Be Held For Clinic In Oregon.  
8. VA Employee Speaks To City Council About Services Available To Veterans.  
9. Non-VA Hospitals Said To Pose Unnecessary MRSA Risk.  
10. Groundbreaking Ceremony To Be Held For Clinic In Oregon.       

HAVE YOU HEARD?
Two of only four government winners in this year’s prestigious PR Platinum Awards program are from VA. PR News saluted the Platinum PR Awards winners and honorable mentions last month at New York City’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. The event honored the top PR campaigns of the year, the smartest communications initiatives and the people behind them. The Platinum PR Awards had a record number of entries — more than 1,000. Top Platinum winner in the Employee Relations award category was the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. The San Antonio-based system was ranked 130 out of 139 in 2006 by VHA performance measurement scores. It launched a “Go for the Blue” campaign among employees focused on achieving the “blue” – exceeding performance goals. The VA logo and color blue were linked to excellence and featured on a color-coded dashboard used throughout the network to provide quick recognition of goal achievement and link each employee’s effort to reaching excellence in quality of care for veterans. The health care system created six key “drivers” to guide employee teams and held monthly employee meetings to provide feedback and buy-in. Blue showed up everywhere – wrist bands, posters, logos, in theme songs and newsletters. In 2007, the San Antonio system raised its VHA overall performance ranking from 130 to 80. The other VA Platinum Awards entrant recognized was a special edition of the Office of Public Affairs’ “VA News” weekly employee video. A program devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Bay Pines VA campus in Florida which houses a medical center, regional benefits office and national cemetery was one of three runners up in the Platinum Podcast/Videocast category. 

1.      Three Reportedly In Running For Obama’s VA Secretary.   The AP (11/20) reports, "President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials." The AP goes on to list potential picks to lead various departments, including Veterans Affairs, where those being considered include Tammy Duckworth, "a disabled Iraq war veteran" and Illinois Veterans Affairs director, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a disabled Vietnam vet, and current VA Secretary James Peake.

2.      Performance Award Given To DCVAMC.   The syndicated "Sgt. Shaft" column, appearing in the Washington Times (11/20, Fales), congratulated Fernando O. Rivera, director of the DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center, "and his employees for their recent recognition." VA Secretary James B. Peake "selected this group as a 2008 winner of the Robert W. Carey Performance Excellence Award." The award, "one of the most prestigious national awards VA bestows, recognizes organizations that implement management approaches resulting in high levels of performance and service to our nation´s veterans." The award "was named in memory of Robert W. Carey, a recognized VA quality leader and a champion for excellence in the federal government who served as director of the VA Philadelphia Regional Office and Insurance Center from 1985-90."
      Bay Pines VA Receives Same Award.   In continuing coverage, the Tampa Tribune (11/20, Allman) says the "Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in Pinellas County, the fourth busiest medical center for veterans in the country," also received Carey Award, which "was recently presented to Bay Pines officials" Secretary Peake and VA Under Secretary for Health Michael J. Kussman.

3.      Filner Proposes "De-Boot Camp," Major Changes At VA.   The Washington Times (11/20, Hudson) reports, "A key House leader is proposing to establish a ‘de-boot camp,’ where returning service members would undergo mandatory diagnosis for brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in order to reduce instances of domestic violence and suicide." US Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, "said Wednesday he will lobby the Obama administration for the…camp and other new initiatives for service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans from the Vietnam era." Filner, who made his comments "during an editorial board" at the Washington Times, "said he wants the Department of Veterans Affairs…to reduce a backlog of claims by granting all claims made by Vietnam veterans who say they suffer illnesses from exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. He said he also advocates a ‘radical’ new approach to veterans health care that would allow veterans living in rural areas to have more choices to access health care, even private alternatives." Filner, who also discussed controversial VA research involving the smoking-cessation drug Chantix, called for the entire culture at the VA to be overhauled, although he did praise VA employees as "really good people."

4.      Dog Training Program Helps Vets Suffering From PTSD.   In continuing coverage, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (11/9, Kovner) said Christopher Hill, who is completing a residential treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Menlo Park, California, "is one of six Iraq veterans involved in a new program – Paws for Purple Hearts – pairing the psychologically scarred warriors with gentle canines from the Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa, a nonprofit that pioneered the training of service dogs to aid disabled humans." The program "has some Menlo Park VA staffers speculating that it could become a national model, a new treatment for the PTSD epidemic generated by seven years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan." According to the Press Democrat, Paws for Purple Hearts helps war veterans in "two ways," first by "engaging them as dog trainers who need emotional catharsis," then by "ultimately providing service dogs for disabled vets."
      Casey Says Army Must Increase Mental Care Provided To Soldiers.   In an article on US Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey’s Monday visit to Fort Hood, the Killeen (TX) Daily Herald (11/19, Stairrett) reported that Casey said the Army needs to increase the mental care provided to US soldiers. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD and "are wounds of war and they have to be treated as such, he said."
      PTSD Treatment Said To Be A Problem For US Soldiers.   On its website, WPXI-TV Pittsburgh, PA (11/19) said a "recent survey by the RAND corporation" found that while "some" 300,000 soldiers suffer from PTSD, "only half who need" treatment are getting it and "of those, slightly more than half received care labeled ‘minimally adequate.’" The Department of Defense authorized "a record" $300 million "this year for research on PTSD" and TBIs, but US Rep. Altmire (D-PA) "says the government needs to do a better job getting soldiers the help they need. ‘The transition from the DOD side to the VA side with regards to PTSD is not as strong as it should be." Altmire added, "That’s something we can get better at and we need to do a better job."
      Tuscaloosa VAMC Reaching Out To Veterans Battling "Invisible" Problems.   The Tuscaloosa (AL) News (11/18, Boyd) reported, "In response to the growing yet silent battle" veterans are waging against "invisible maladies" like PTSD, TBIs, depression, anxiety, and transition disorders, the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is taking action with a new VA Community Outreach Initiative." According to the hospital’s director, Alan Tyler, "the new initiative is part of a family support team that has enlisted a team of psychologists, social workers and chaplains to target the afflicted." In discussing the initiative, Tyler said, "While modern medicine has been successful in curing visible ills, it’s the invisible that hits the worst."
      Troubled Iraq Vet Says He Fought With VA To Get Help.   The New York Daily News (11/18, O’Shaughnessy) profiled Joe Lopez, "one of the thousands of Iraq war veterans whose lives were irreparably changed over there." Lopez suffers from PTSD, "and fought with the Veterans Administration to get help." The Daily News noted that Lopez said, "Things are getting better with the VA."
      Female Veteran’s Trauma Explored In Online Documentary.   The AP (11/19, Wittenauer) reports the story of a female veteran’s" struggle to recover from the trauma of combat and an alleged sexual assault by an officer premieres Wednesday in a new online documentary. ‘Angie’s Story’ is the latest webcast in the series ‘In Their Boots,’ about the struggles of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and their families." The film series "is a project of the Brave New Foundation, a Culver City, Calif.-nonprofit group headed by filmmaker and political activist Robert Greenwald," whose other films include "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers." The "series has explored such topics as traumatic brain injury, the plight of young military widows and a soldier’s suicide from the parents’ point of view."

5.      Army Official Says DOD Is Reforming The Way Injured Soldiers Are Treated.   The Huntsville (AL) Times (11/19, McCarter) reported, "The commanding officer of the hospital at Redstone Arsenal said Monday that for the longest time, the military didn’t properly tend to its wounded warriors." But when the "scandal at Walter Reed Hospital…spotlighted the need to upgrade care for soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military started doing things as it should, according to Fox Army Health Center commander Col. Mark Smith. ‘What we’re doing right now is historic,’ Smith said Monday morning after a town hall-style meeting with almost 100 recovering soldiers and agency representatives that provide their care." Smith "said with so many soldiers being wounded in training and in combat," the DOD "is reforming the way injured military members are treated. Warriors in Transition Units have been set up throughout the country, including one at Redstone Arsenal that serves soldiers from the Southeast.
      Casey Says Changes Must Still Be Made To Military Healthcare System.   The Killeen (TX) Daily Herald (11/19, Stairrett) reported that when US Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey visited Fort Hood Monday, he "discussed soldier healthcare since November is Army Warrior Care Month. Healthcare has been a major issue for the Army ever since news broke about inadequate care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center" in Washington, DC. Creating "Warrior Transition Units has helped, but changes still need to be made, Casey said. Those changes need to be made at the legislative level with involvement from the Defense Department" and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

6.      Organization Provides Help To Sight-Impaired Vets.   In a letter to the syndicated "Sgt. Shaft" column, appearing in the Washington Times (11/20, Fales), Betsy Paull O´Connell, the executive director of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) Metropolitan Washington Unit, writes, "Founded in 1948 to help blinded World War II veterans attend college via the GI Bill of Rights, RFB&D and its audio textbooks are helping more than 237,000 students and professionals who have print disabilities pursue educational and professional success. One of our newest members" is Iraq veteran Michael Jernigan, who "recently filmed a public service announcement and video interview for RFB&D that can be accessed at www.youtube.com/record4bd." O’Connell adds, "RFB&D was there to help our…veterans in 1948, and we are here to help them now."

7.      Groundbreaking Ceremony To Be Held For Clinic In Oregon.   The Oregonian (11/19, Aflleje) reported, "A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday" for a Veterans Affairs clinic "that will serve veterans in The Dalles area. The clinic will provide primary care and mental health services four days per week to more than 1,200 veterans that currently travel" to VA medical center "facilities in Portland, said Mike McAleer, a Portland VA spokesman. Portland VA Medical Center staff members are temporarily providing services one day each month for veterans at the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles, McAleer said."

8.      VA Employee Speaks To City Council About Services Available To Veterans.   The Mt. Vernon (IL) Register-News (11/19, Culli) reported members of the Mt. Vernon City Council "heard a presentation from the addiction specialist for the Marion Veterans Administration Health Center, who said he wanted to get the word out to veterans about services." Brian Ouellette, the specialist, discussed the situation, saying, "I’ve found…that veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are not aware of services that are available to them." Ouellette, "who works at both the Mt. Vernon and Effingham veterans clinics, said there are many counseling services available to all veterans, and through teleconferencing, those attending group sessions have the added benefit of relating with other veterans in Evansville and other clinics."

9.      Non-VA Hospitals Said To Pose Unnecessary MRSA Risk.   In continuing coverage, an editorial in the Seattle Times (11/19) said, "Patients entering Washington hospitals are at risk of pain, suffering, amputations and death from" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but a "sloppy, uneven response by some hospitals has failed to confront the infection or adequately inform the public." A Seattle Times (11/16, Berens, Armstrong) "investigation, ‘Culture of Resistance,’ began Sunday with a headline that set the tone for the three-day series: ‘How our hospitals unleashed an epidemic.’" The "alarming core of the exhaustive and superlative reporting by Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong was the revelation of a breakdown in rudimentary cleanliness and hygiene." While the Seattle Times (11/16, Berens, Armstrong) investigation did find that the US Department of Veterans Affairs "had taken the MSRA epidemic seriously and worked hard to protect VA patients," the series still "points to a twofold challenge. Hospital cleanliness and enforcement of hygiene rules must be aggressively monitored," because the "public has a right to know about MRSA."
      Sunday’s Seattle Times article, entitled "How Our Hospitals Unleashed An Epidemic," also noted VA’s effort’s to prevent MRSA infections, saying, "Federal veterans hospitals screen all patients for MRSA, which has reduced their cases to near zero." However, "not a single community hospital in Washington screens every patient for the pathogen." In a separate story, the Seattle Times (11/17, Berens, Armstrong) recounted a MRSA-related outbreak that "lasted 15 months" at one Washington hospital, Harborview Medical Center.

10.    Groundbreaking Ceremony To Be Held For Clinic In Oregon.   The Oregonian (11/19, Aflleje) reported, "A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday" for a Veterans Affairs clinic "that will serve veterans in The Dalles area. The clinic will provide primary care and mental health services four days per week to more than 1,200 veterans that currently travel" to VA medical center "facilities in Portland, said Mike McAleer, a Portland VA spokesman. Portland VA Medical Center staff members are temporarily providing services one day each month for veterans at the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles, McAleer said."