Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-27-09

1. Veterans Rumored To Be Up For Top Posts At VA.  
2. Local Veterans Hoping VA Will Choose French Camp Location.  
3. Alaska Territorial Guard Members Informed Of Error In Pay Increase.  
4. Studies Examine Ways To Treat PTSD, Addiction At Same Time.  
5. Former VA Employee Assisting Combat Vets.  
6. Renovated Psychiatric Wing At Dallas VAMC Reopens.  
7. VA Clinic In New York Adds Two Psychiatrists To Staff.  
8. Senate Stimulus Bill Includes Money For VA  
9. Coats Delivered To VA Hospital In Utah.  
10. Alexandria National Cemetery Said To Have No Room Left For New Burials.

---

HAVE YOU HEARD?
Technology provided by VA used to remotely monitor the health of patients with chronic conditions reduces hospitals stays, according to a VA-sponsored study. The study examined teleheath technology that VA uses to collect data about patients from their homes, monitoring indicators such as blood pressure and blood glucose levels. The study, conducted by the VA national telehealth staff, is in the current issue of the journal “Telemedicine and e-Health,” a peer-reviewed publication. The study looked at health outcomes from 17,025 VA home telehealth patients. It reported a 25 percent reduction in the average number of days hospitalized and a 19 percent reduction in hospitalizations for patients using home telehealth tools. VA’s home telehealth program cares for 35,000 patients. Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA Under Secretary for Health, attributed telehealth success to VA’s computerized patient record system. 

---

1.      Veterans Rumored To Be Up For Top Posts At VA.   In the sixth story in his "In The Loop" column, the Washington Post‘s (1/27, A15) Al Kamen says, "Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, a retired four-star Army general, appears to be stacking his sub-Cabinet with fellow veterans. We’re hearing buzz that Shinseki will name W. Scott Gould, who served in Iraq as a naval intelligence reservist, as his deputy secretary." Meanwhile, Shinseki "is eyeing disabled Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs." Sources "say Shinseki also could tap Roger Baker, who served on Obama’s transition team and is a longtime information technology executive in government and private industry, for a top VA post, perhaps as chief innovation officer."
      GAO Report Seen As Evidence That VA Needs To Change.   An editorial in the El Paso (TX) Times (1/26) said, "Many veterans and their families have endured ill treatment from" the VA "for a long time." And now, "in a report released Friday, the Government Accountability Office says VA is lowballing budget estimates it gives to Congress to keep its spending down." According to the Times, US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) has said that new VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "pledged honesty and accurate accounting" at his agency. The Times agrees that such a pledge is needed, saying US veterans "deserve better."
      In a similar editorial, which also discusses last week’s GAO report, the Walla Walla (WA) Union-Bulletin (1/27) points out that Shineski’s "office released a statement just after his confirmation saying that Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days that realizes the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking." The Union-Bulletin says it looks "forward to changes in the department that result in top-notch care and first-class facilities, including a revamped Wainwright VA Medical Center in Walla Walla."

2.      Local Veterans Hoping VA Will Choose French Camp Location.   In continuing coverage, the Amador (CA) Ledger-Dispatcher (1/27, Hosseini) says that as the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System "moves forward on selecting a location for a nursing home and expanded medical facility in the Central Valley," Amador veterans "are hoping a proposed location" at French Camp "in nearby San Joaquin County will give them improved treatment options and fewer miles to travel." A Friday "morning rally in French Camp…is intended to fortify support for the French Camp proposal." US Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA), who, along with US Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, recently sent a letter of support for the proposal to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, has announced that he will attend the rally. The Ledger-Dispatcher notes that Friday’s rally "is being held along with the San Joaquin Homeless Veterans Stand Down."

3.      Alaska Territorial Guard Members Informed Of Error In Pay Increase.   In continuing coverage, the lead story in Joe Davidson’s Washington Post (1/27, D4) "Federal Diary" column notes that in a letter sent last week, the US Army "informed 27" individuals who served with the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II that a military retirement pay increase they received seven months ago "was a mistake." The pay error "occurred when the Defense Department misinterpreted a section of federal law that says members of the territorial guard who were honorably discharged should be ‘considered active duty for the purposes of all laws administered by the Secretary.’ The secretary…was not the secretary of Defense, as officials originally thought, but the secretary of Veterans Affairs, said Lt. Col. Richard McNorton of the Army’s human resources command." McNorton "said…the Army was ‘anxious to get this resolved’ and that Defense Department officials were working with Congress on legislation to do just that."
      Lawmakers Will Ask Obama To Intervene.   The KIMO-TV Anchorage, AK (1/26, Malone) website, which also covered this story, reported, "Alaska’s congressional delegation is stepping in and sending off letters" to President Barack Obama "requesting his intervention. They are arguing that it is unjust to take away retirement money from the surviving men," but the Army "says the law passed by congress doesn’t encompass retirement pay, only veteran benefits." The VA, meanwhile, "says it has written numerous letters to the Army asking for help that have all gone unanswered."

4.      Studies Examine Ways To Treat PTSD, Addiction At Same Time.   The AP (1/27, Neergaard) reports, "At least half" of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "sufferers smoke, and others wind up dependent on alcohol, anti-anxiety pills, sometimes even illegal drugs. Yet too few clinics treat both PTSD and addictions at the same time, despite evidence they should." Now, however, "studies are recruiting PTSD patients — from New England drug-treatment centers to veterans clinics in North Carolina and Washington — to determine what combination care works." The AP adds, "A study last year by the RAND Corp. research organization estimated nearly 20 percent" of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan "have symptoms of PTSD or major depression."

5.      Former VA Employee Assisting Combat Vets.   In the last story of "What’s Brewin" Government Executive (1/26) blog, Bob Brewin wrote, "My pal Ed Meagher, former Veterans Affairs Department deputy chief information officer and now director of strategy for health affairs at SRA International, and some of his friends are running Operation Jump-Start to help combat veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq to transition to civilian life. He would like the help of folks out in What’s Land," who can register to attend the "Operation Jump-Start dinner," scheduled to be held "on Jan. 27 at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va., from 1730 to 2030." Price "of admission is a donation to help combat vets as they transition to civilian life." The "Jump-Start fund also supports soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and their families, Ed told me."

6.      Renovated Psychiatric Wing At Dallas VAMC Reopens.   In continuing coverage, the Dallas Morning News (1/24, McGraw) said the Dallas Veteran Affairs Medical Center’s "psychiatric wing, where two patients committed suicide last year, reopened fully" Friday "after a nine-month hiatus. The wing has been renovated, with new technologies to help safeguard patients and alert hospital personnel about potential problems."

7.      VA Clinic In New York Adds Two Psychiatrists To Staff.   The Greater Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin (1/26) said psychiatrists Dr. Damon A. Tohtz and Dr. Robert B. Webster have both become full-time staff members at the "Binghamton Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic."

8.      Senate Stimulus Bill Includes Money For VA.   In continuing coverage, Government Executive (1/26, Gruber, Lunney) reported, "The Senate appears to be following in the House’s footsteps by allotting billions of dollars to federal agencies," including the Department of Veterans Affairs, "in its version of the economic stimulus bill," which the "Senate Appropriations Committee plans to mark up…on Tuesday." The bill includes "$3.4 billion for construction and improvements of the department’s hospitals and medical centers, long-term care facilities and upgrades at VA cemeteries."

9.      Coats Delivered To VA Hospital In Utah.   On its website, KSL-TV Salt Lake City, UT (1/26) reported, "Military trucks rolled into" Salt Lake’s Veterans Affairs hospital Monday "morning filled with important cargo. Members of the 729th Air Control Squadron," from Hill Air Force Base, "unloaded over 600 coats and other items for those who need some extra help fighting the cold." The items "were collected during a special coat drive that ran from December through last week."

10.    Alexandria National Cemetery Said To Have No Room Left For New Burials.   The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (1/27, Hayes) reports, "Family and friends of veterans may have to find another resting place for their loved ones because the Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville has no more room." Alexandria National Cemetery director Phyllis Speed, who "said the cemetery…has been closed to new burials since November 1994," added, "It is up to the city of Pineville to contact the Veterans Affairs Office" in DC "to see if they can get another cemetery." In commenting on the matter, Pineville Chief of Staff Rich Dupree "said it is not an issue that has been presented to city officials for public discussion," but VFW Post 1736 member Tom Slater said, "We need to bring the idea of trying to get another cemetery at our next post meeting."