Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-22-09

1. Shinseki, Six Other Cabinet Secretaries Sworn In.  
2. VA Providing Assistance To Rural Vets.  
3. Gould Said To Be In Running For Deputy VA Secretary.  
4. Injured Vets Go Online For Financial Assistance.  
5. Hearing Will Discuss Future Of LSU-VA Hospital Project.
6. Expansion Of Bay Pines VAMC To Be Unveiled Thursday.  
7. New VA Clinic Open In Kentucky.  
8. Official Says BHHCS Is Not Closing.  
9. Local Officials In Minnesota Hope To Land New VA Clinic.  
10. Vocational Rehab Center For Vets To Be Based At VA Hospital In Texas.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
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1.      Shinseki, Six Other Cabinet Secretaries Sworn In.   The AP (1/22) reports, "President Barack Obama has his first seven Cabinet secretaries and a budget director." On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden "privately swore in… the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget," along with "six Cabinet secretaries," including retired Gen. Eric Shinseki at the Veterans Affairs Department. Hillary Rodham Clinton "was sworn in separately as secretary of state shortly after the Senate confirmed her nomination."
      The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (1/22, Rowell) reports Shinseki "took the oath of office" Wednesday "as the seventh" VA secretary, "assuming the leadership" of the department "following Tuesday’s confirmation by the Senate." Key issues on Shinseki’s "agenda include smooth activation of an enhanced GI Bill education" benefit, "streamlining the disability claims system, leveraging information technology to accelerate and modernize services, and opening" the VA’s "health care system to veterans previously unable to enroll in it, while facilitating access for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans."
      Akaka Praises Shinseki.   The Honolulu Advertiser (1/22) reports, "The unanimous votes confirming Shinseki and the other Cabinet members came a little more than three hours after Obama took office. ‘General Shinseki has risen from humble beginnings to become the secretary of the second-largest Cabinet-level department in the federal government,’" US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) "said in a news release issued in Washington. Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he looks forward to working with Shinseki and Obama to help" the VA "fulfill ‘its sacred obligation to veterans and their families.’"
      Obama Says He And Shinseki Will Work Hard For Veterans.   On its website, WAVY-TV Norfolk, VA (1/21) reported, "President Barack Obama saluted" US troops "and their families, paying special tribute to wounded warriors and families of the fallen, during" the Commander in Chief’s Inaugural Ball "Tuesday night." Obama also "pledged that he, along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates" and VA Secretary Shinseki, "would work tirelessly to serve those who have served the nation in uniform."
      Lawmaker Praised For Urging That Veterans’ Assistance Be Part Of Any Stimulus Package.   The syndicated "Sgt. Shaft" column, appearing in the Washington Times (1/22, Fales), gives an "attaboy to Rep. Steve Buyer, Indiana Republican and ranking member" of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, "for recently urging House leaders and President Obama to include more than $2 billion for initiatives to assist veterans in any new stimulus package considered by Congress. ‘We should not say we want to stimulate the economy and fail to include investments in programs that improve the lives of veterans,’ Mr. Buyer said in a letter to Mr. Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner." The "committee’s deputy ranking member, Rep. Cliff Stearns, joined Mr. Buyer in the stimulus package letter."

2.      VA Providing Assistance To Rural Vets.   In the lead story in his syndicated "Veteran’s Beat" column, appearing in Ohio’s News-Leader (1/22), Ron Seman says US veterans "who reside in rural areas…can look forward to some long-awaited assistance, thanks" to the "introduction of a major rural health initiative" by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. In a "a Jan. 13 press release," US Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) "announced…that $1 million has been awarded to the VA Healthcare System of Ohio" by the US VA. The funds "are part of a $21.7 million package the VA has provided to its regional health care system to improve services specifically designed for veterans in rural areas." The VA has also "created a 13-member committee to brief the VA secretary on issues affecting rural veterans and has opened three rural health resource centers."

3.      Gould Said To Be In Running For Deputy VA Secretary.   The third story in Al Kamen’s Washington Post (1/22, A15) column says there is "buzz that W. Scott Gould, a former assistant secretary of commerce and more recently a vice president for public-sector strategy and change at IBM Business Consulting Services, is being looked at to be deputy secretary of veterans affairs. Others in the mix are" Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, "and Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown."

4.      Injured Vets Go Online For Financial Assistance.   NPR’s Morning Edition (1/22, Zwerdling) reports a "growing number" of injured veterans have gone "cyberbegging" after discovering that the government’s compensation for their injuries do not cover their expenses. The situation has led to a "new breed" of websites, like www.USAtogether.org, "that help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans." Advocates for veterans "say if every vet received all the benefits they’re entitled to, they should be able to afford a decent quality of life. But reports have shown that many vets don’t know about all the benefits, so they don’t apply for them. And the average vet who does apply has to wait at least six months, and sometimes years, to receive" the benefits. NPR added, "Earlier in January," outgoing Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake "announced ‘a new partnership’ to help private organizations assist veterans," but the VA "won’t give them more money."

5.      Hearing Will Discuss Future Of LSU-VA Hospital Project.   In a front page story, the New Orleans Times-Picayune (1/22, Barrow) reports, "Addressing several hundred New Orleans business and community leaders last month, representatives from the Louisiana State University System" and the US Department of Veterans Affairs "spoke definitively about their plans for a $2 billion investment in a joint medical teaching facility near downtown." But when the "Louisiana House Appropriations Committee convenes at the state Capitol in Baton Rouge" Thursday "to discuss the possibilities for the future of LSU’s Charity Hospital building," preservationists will "call for the VA to build a new facility northwest of Interstate 10, in the lower nine-block area of the larger footprint that state and federal officials propose now to take." Preservationists have pointed to complications with that proposal, including that the "VA is depending on the city of New Orleans to secure its land on the northwest portion of the footprint" by year-end.

6.      Expansion Of Bay Pines VAMC To Be Unveiled Thursday.   BN9-TV Tampa (1/21, 12:06 p.m. ET) broadcast, "A newly renovated and expanded emergency department will open" at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Thursday. The "new $5.5 million facility will mean better care and access for Pinellas area veterans. The renovation now doubles the number of beds the hospital has available, and provides new state of the art equipment aimed at cutting down wait times."
      The Tampa Tribune (1/22) reports the Bay Pines VAMC "in Pinellas County is unveiling its newly expanded emergency room Thursday. At 15,647 square feet, it is nearly three times the size of the old one, said Faith Belcher, spokeswoman" for the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. The "project cost $5.5 million."

7.      New VA Clinic Open In Kentucky.   The Richmond (KY) Register (1/18, Shannon) reported, "Kentucky veterans, especially those from the eastern and southeastern parts of the state, no longer have to make the long drive to Lexington for outpatient medical care" because a Veterans Affairs "outpatient clinic is now open at…209 Pauline Drive in Berea. A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of this new VA clinic" was scheduled to "take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21."

8.      Official Says BHHCS Is Not Closing.   The Hot Springs (SD) Star (1/21, Nettinga) reported, "A press release sent out" by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Black Hills Health Care Systems (BHHCS) "in November has brought on questions from the area served by the Hot Springs campus. ‘I can say that we are not closing," said Peter Henry, the director of the BHHCS, ‘but that we are changing. I do not foresee a time when we are not in Hot Springs.’" The November "press release was titled ‘VA Black Hills Health Care Systems plan to expand and enhance services,’ and talked about a recently completed assessment for veterans living in the service area of western S.D., eastern Wyoming and northwestern Nebraska." The Rapid City (SD) Journal (1/22) also runs this story.

9.      Local Officials In Minnesota Hope To Land New VA Clinic.   The KAAL-TV Rochester, MN (1/21, Lilienthal) website reported, "The Department of Veteran Affairs is looking to open a new VA outpatient clinic somewhere in our area next year," so "area governments are vying for the new facility to come their way." On Tuesday, Freeborn County commissioners "voted unanimously on a resolution recommending the clinic comes to Freeborn County," but VA Spokesman Ralph Heussner said the decision on where to put the clinic "will be data driven based on needs, location on veterans, and the type of facility that is necessary to provide those services."

10.    Vocational Rehab Center For Vets To Be Based At VA Hospital In Texas.   The San Antonio (TX) Business Journal (1/21, Dominguez) reported, "Disabled veterans will soon have a place where they can get help when re-entering the job market following a life-altering injury," because on January 27th, the "Paralyzed Veterans of America Vocational Rehabilitation Center will open" in the Spinal Cord Unit of the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Affairs Hospital. The Journal added, "According to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the unemployment rate for veterans with severe disabilities is estimated to be over 85 percent."