Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-28-08

1. Peake Says Any Cutbacks Should Have Little Impact On Durham VAMC.  
2. VA Opens Acquisition Center In Frederick, Maryland.  
3. Mileage Reimbursement Rate Raised For Veterans.  
4. Lawsuit Blames VA For Iraq Veteran’s Suicide.  
5. VA, DOD To Migrate EHR Systems To Service-Oriented Architecture.  
6. Medical Team Training Session Held At Birmingham VAMC.  
7. Ground Broken On New VA Clinic In Oregon.  
8. N.J. official accused of faking combat record.  
9. VA Opens Housing And Administration Complex In Pennsylvania.  
10. Veteran Praises Residential Villas.

HAVE YOU HEARD?
The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes Inc. are teaming up to send holiday cards to servicemen and women in the United States and around the world. From now through Dec. 10, the public can send holiday cards with their message of thanks and cheer to a special post office box. The Red Cross and Pitney Bowes will then screen, sort and package the cards, and deliver them to military bases and hospitals, veteran’s hospitals, and other locations during the holidays. Holiday cards should be addressed and sent to: Holiday Mail For Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456. Please be sure to affix adequate postage. Cards must be received no later than Dec. 10. Cards received after this date will be returned to senders. To help speed the sorting process and delivery of cards and notes before the holidays, mailers are encouraged to refrain from sending “care packages,” monetary gifts, using glitter or including any other inserts. For a full list of recommended guidelines and best practices, please visit http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/. Cards are also available to print out from the Web site. Visitors can also leave a message on the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Facebook Wall.

1.      Peake Says Any Cutbacks Should Have Little Impact On Durham VAMC.   The Durham (NC) Herald-Sun (11/26, Way) reports, "Despite the uncertainty of how a sluggish economy and a federal government in bailout mode may impact future federal budgets, Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake believes" the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center "will be largely insulated from any drastic cutbacks. ‘They are taking care of 45,000 veterans a year,’ a volume that is sufficiently large to merit its survival, Peake said" Tuesday, when he "spent an hour…touring" the hospital "with VA and Duke officials to learn more about the operations and interactions between the organizations." In "addition to what he learned from that experience," Peake "got a firsthand plug from Alison T. Young, special assistant to President Bush and acting director of USA Freedom Corps. Young, who accompanied Peake to an awards ceremony to honor outstanding volunteers" at the Durham VAMC, "said her father, a Navy veteran, recently received treatments at the facility. She said his care was exceptional. Peake thanked her for the additional insight." The Herald-Sun adds that whether Peake "continues in the post to which he was sworn-in in December 2007 remains to be seen. Members of the Obama transition team already have been talking to him, he said."
      Peake Presents Awards To Volunteer Drivers.   In a related story, the Durham (NC) Herald-Sun (11/26, Way) reports "16 men and women" were honored Tuesday "with the President’s Volunteer Service Award for coordinating programs and driving veterans from eastern and central North Carolina to the Bull City every day to receive medical treatments and services. They are part of a 280-volunteer force that put in 83,000 free hours of work at the Durham VA through the Disabled American Veterans organization." During a ceremony at the Durham VAMC, the honorees received a handshake from Peake and a "certificate, pin," and "letter from President Bush thanking" them "for extraordinary volunteer service." Peake addressed those gathered at the ceremony, saying the volunteers had "earned" the hospital’s "admiration."

2.      VA Opens Acquisition Center In Frederick, Maryland.   In continuing coverage, the AP (11/26) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it has opened a new office in Frederick, Md., that aims to reduce waste and mismanagement in the agency’s headquarters contracting division. The Center for Acquisition Innovation and the related VA Acquisition Academy are in leased office space along Interstate 270," approximately "45 miles north of Washington. With a total employment of 60, including 30 academy interns, the center is part of a reorganization announced last year stemming from revelations about millions of VA dollars wasted on mismanaged contracts for services in recent years. ‘We want to develop an acquisitions work force that will understand the complexities of the VA and understand the suppliers so that we can write good, clear contracts and leverage the best deal for the government," VA Secretary James B. Peake said in a telephone interview." The Washington Times (11/26) also publishes this story in its "Metro Briefs" section.

3.      Mileage Reimbursement Rate Raised For Veterans.   In continuing coverage, Florida Weekly (11/26) reports the US Department of Veterans Affairs recently "announced that eligible veterans will see an increase in the mileage reimbursement they receive for travel to VA facilities for medical care." VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake "said that he is raising the mileage reimbursement from 28.5 cents per mile to 41.5 cents per mile for all eligible veterans." Congress, "which mandates such increases, recently provided funding to VA to increase the reimbursement rate, which went into effect on Nov. 17. Service connected veterans, veterans receiving VA pensions, and veterans with low incomes are eligible for the reimbursement."

4.      Lawsuit Blames VA For Iraq Veteran’s Suicide.   The AP (11/26) reports the US Department of Veterans Affairs "is being blamed for the suicide of a 24-year-old Michigan man who served with the Marines in Iraq." A lawsuit filed Tuesday "accuses government doctors of failing to keep Randen Harvey in a hospital or commit him to a mental-health facility in 2006. Harvey died of a drug overdose" in June 2006. The lawsuit "says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after two tours in Iraq. The lawsuit says Harvey was found on the roof of the VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, three days before his death." After that, he "was discharged and told to wait for substance-abuse treatment. The lawsuit seeks cash." The AP added, "A message seeking comment was left with the VA."
      Video Game Part Of US Army Suicide Prevention Program.   The Christian Science Monitor (11/26, Lubold) reports, "As the strains of war push" the US Army’s "suicide rate up to an all-time high, the service is turning to a fictional soldier named" Specialist Kyle Norton "to encourage soldiers to seek help faster. Suicides among soldiers have increased dramatically in the last several years, up by 46 percent since the US invaded Iraq in 2003," but senior "service officials still haven’t completely figured out how to address the issue." One "of the more novel solutions is an interactive" video game "called ‘Beyond the Front.’" The "service plans to send out thousands of copies of the game" as "part of an Army suicide prevention program."
      VA Hospital In Pennsylvania Attempting To Assist Troubled Vets.   In a story focusing on issues facing homeless US veterans in Phoenixville and Chester County, the Phoenixville (PA) News (11/25, Grey) reported that many Veterans Affairs facilities are incorporating post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD "treatment into their programs." For example, Chester County’s VA Medical Center "provides a PTSD program, ‘which is rated as VA’s No. 1 PTSD program. ‘Our mental health leadership staff and PTSD program staff meet often to strategize about the program’s future needs,’ says facility public affairs specialist Kathleen Pomorski." The News added that Pat Pomoroy, the director of the Philadelphia Vets Multi Service and Educational Center, expressed concern about the VA’s capacity "to handle the fallout after the War On Terror ends. ‘The war is not yet over and we are seeing homeless veterans already. I do not believe that the VA system is prepared to handle the fall out when this war is over.’"
      Homelessness Said To Be A Risk For Younger Vets.   On its website, WTNH-TV Hartford, CT (11/25, Cohn) reported, "It’s estimated about 300,000 service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 suffer" from PTSD, and a "growing number of them are winding up on the street. One of them is" Afghanistan vet "named Joe Johnson." Today, Johnson, "at age 26, is the youngest resident of Homes For The Brave," a "Bridgeport homeless shelter for veterans which, until now, has housed vets from Korea and Vietnam. ‘Joe Johnson may be among the first veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to show up at area homeless shelters but it’s safe to say he won’t be the last,’ Amanda LeClair, of Home for the Brave, said." WTNH added that Johnson is "getting…help," including assistance from Veterans Affairs.

5.      VA, DOD To Migrate EHR Systems To Service-Oriented Architecture.   In continuing coverage, Government Health IT (11/25, Buxbaum) reported, "The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will migrate their respective electronic health record systems" to a service-oriented architecture (SOA) "to enhance the interoperability of outpatient clinical data. Stephen Jones, principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, made the announcement at a Pentagon press conference" Monday morning. SOA "means that the systems will rely on Web services that connect loosely coupled, reusable components." GHIT added that at Monday’s press conference, officials "from both departments described the progress DOD and VA have made toward sharing clinical information. ‘We are making strides, and we are on target to meet requirements,’ said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s principal deputy undersecretary for health. ‘We are now sharing almost all digital information that is viewable.’"

6.      Medical Team Training Session Held At Birmingham VAMC.   The Birmingham (AL) News (11/25, Gordon) reported that last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for Patient Safety held a day-long VA Medical Team Training (MTT) session at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. Dr. Lisa Mazzia, a co-director of the VA’s MTT training effort, said the session was designed "to improve teamwork and communication, and thereby, prevent inadvertent harm." The News added, "During the next 12 months," the Birmingham VAMC "will be required to put an MTT plan into action that will incorporate some of the points stressed in last week’s presentation. Mazzia said the plan’s cornerstone requirement is a briefing involving the surgical team and the patient before every surgical procedure, and a team briefing after the surgery."

7.      Ground Broken On New VA Clinic In Oregon.   The Dalles (OR) Chronicle (11/25, Nichols) reported, "When February rolls around, local veterans needing medical care will have an option to making the icy trip down the gorge to Portland." For, if "all goes well, that’s when a new 1,200-square-foot medical clinic will open next to the Oregon Veteran’s Home in The Dalles. The clinic will primarily serve veterans from Wasco, Sherman and Hood River counties in Oregon and Klickitat County in Washington, but will be open to any qualifying veterans. There are 1,500 enrolled veterans in those four counties, and 1,200 of them currently go to Portland for their medical care, according to Joseph Ronzio of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs," who spoke "at a city planning commission in August. The facility would be a joint project of the department in cooperation with the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. ‘We’re very excited about this outpatient clinic in partnership with the Oregon Dept of Veterans Affairs,’ said Dave Mastalkski of the Portland VA Medical Center at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday."

 8.      N.J. official accused of faking combat record.  The AP reports 11/26 An official in the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has been accused of falsifying his veteran and government records in order to receive a tax exemption and medical benefits.William Devereaux, the department’s director of veterans programs, was arrested Monday, issued a summons and released. A court hearing has not yet been scheduled.In announcing the arrest on Wednesday, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said the 63-year-old Laurel Springs resident invented a false history of combat heroism in the Vietnam War.

The prosecutor’s office said its investigation was prompted by information provided by the county Office of Veterans Affairs.Prosecutors said Devereaux falsely claimed on military benefits forms for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that he served as a paratrooper and artilleryman during the war and was injured multiple times. He also claimed to have received medals including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with “V” device.Authorities said Devereaux served as a payroll distribution specialist in Vietnam for about 4½ months in 1968 and never served as a paratrooper or artilleryman.

They also said he never received the medals he claimed to have and that there was no record of his being injured in combat.Devereaux received $34,000 in compensation from Veterans Affairs based on the falsified records, authorities said.He is also accused of wrongly claiming exemption from property taxes in Laurel Springs by claiming he was 100 percent disabled due to military service.He was charged with falsifying or tampering with records and theft by failure to make required disposition.Devereaux, who was appointed to the state post in 2004 by former Gov. James McGreevey, did not return a telephone message left at his home on Wednesday. It was not clear if he had retained a lawyer.

9.      VA Opens Housing And Administration Complex In Pennsylvania.   The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/26, Rujumba) reports, "Standing in the dining room of the new housing and administration complex" of the H. John Heinz III Veterans Affairs Progressive Care Center in Aspinwall Tuesday, US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) "recalled how his father struggled to cope with life after World War I." Specter "was in Aspinwall to preside at the official opening of the complex there — a part of the consolidation of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, which has received some $295 million in federal funding since 2004. ‘Without Sen. Specter, this project couldn’t have happened,’ said Michael Moreland, network director of VA Healthcare, a group of VA medical centers and clinics throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware and in parts of West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio and New York."

10.    Veteran Praises Residential Villas.   The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (11/26, Bowling) reports, "Escaping a downward spiral that cost him his job and his marriage, once-homeless Gulf War veteran Terry Williamson appreciates living in a place where he can open a window for some fresh air. ‘They really did this right,’ he said while standing in one of the new residential villas on the O’Hara campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Pittsburgh Healthcare System." On Tuesday, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony, "Williamson led fellow veterans, VA officials and dignitaries in the Pledge of Allegiance. The villas are part of a $200 million project to renovate and expand Pittsburgh’s VA facilities." The Tribune-Review notes that Williamson is "in the VA’s job program, which is training him to return to the work force. Moving from a barracks-like setting to the residential villas will help all veterans, he said." Williamson added, "It makes you feel part of something, that you’re getting back into real life again."