Today’s Local News for Veterans
What’s Inside
1. Military Suicides Gain Attention On Capitol Hill.
2. Congressional Leaders Say Shinseki Can Help VA.
3. VA Employees Collect Toilet Paper For Shelter In Alaska
4. Three Psychiatrists Decide To Leave Wainwright VAMC.
5. Valentines To Be Distributed To VA Patients.
6. Vet Waits For Go-Ahead On Stroke Rehab Therapy Costs.
7. VA’s Clinic Announcement Sets Off "Flurry Of Activity" In Minnesota.
8. Dayton VAMC Opens Newly Renovated Living Center.
9. Tuscaloosa VAMC Offers Building, Land For Homeless Shelter.
10. VA Hospital Using "Ambient Experience" MRI.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
Interested in designing a national poster to honor veterans? Then the Veterans Day National Committee would like to hear from you. The committee is seeking submissions for the 2009 national Veterans Day poster. The poster is distributed to more than 110,000 schools nationwide, military installations around the world, and to federal agencies in the nation’s capital. It also graces the cover of the official program booklet for the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. The committee will convene in May 2009 to review all submissions and select a finalist. The final poster must be 18×24” at 300 dots per inch, but please scale down submissions to 9×12” and submit electronic versions as jpg images or PDF files via e-mail to vetsday@va.gov. Alternatively, send copies of artwork or a CD with artwork files to Department of Veterans Affairs (002C), 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20420. Please do not send originals. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2009. To view Veterans Day posters from previous years, visit http://www.va.gov/vetsday and click on “Poster Gallery”. Submissions should include sufficient information to demonstrate that the image is the work of the artist and is not copyrighted material (i.e. photos and concepts). The committee may select a particular submission but ask the artist to make modifications to the original design. Additional changes may be required prior to printing.
1. Military Suicides Gain Attention On Capitol Hill. The AP (2/12, Hefling) reports, "Following four suicides" at the US Military Academy at West Point, officials speaking at a meeting Wednesday on Capitol Hill "said…they are emphasizing to cadets that seeking help for mental health problems won’t jeopardize their military careers." The suicides "are part of a larger trend as the strained military wages war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army had its highest rate of suicide on record in 2008 and is investigating a spike in the number in January." Also Wednesday, "top senators on the Veterans Affairs Committee," Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Richard Burr (R-NC), "issued a statement asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to convene a joint oversight committee meeting to address military suicides."
VA Reaching Out To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets. On its website, WTOP-AM Washington, DC (2/11, Marchese) reported, "Despite all the mental, social and physical battles veterans face after war, more than half of them don’t seek help" from the US Department of Veteran Affairs, but this year, the VA "is calling vets and sending staff to reserve and guard units to…tell them about their services." Michael Moreland, director and chief executive officer of the VA Healthcare VISN 4 program, discussed the campaign, saying, "If you’re out there and you’ve returned for Iraq or Afghanistan, we’re looking for you." Moreland "says the VA can handle the growing need, even in the poor economy. In the last couple years, the VA added more than 1,000 jobs in one 6-state region, with more than 300 positions in mental health services."
Binghamton Vet Center Part Of VA Awareness Campaign. The WBNG-TV Binghamton, NY (2/11) website said the Binghamton Vet Center is "reaching out to service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan," as part of a VA campaign that "wants to make sure" those veterans "know to enroll to receive benefits…and mental counseling." WBNG noted that the Binghamton Vet Center said its mental counseling services are free and confidential.
Meetings At St. Cloud VAMC Will Discuss Common Readjustment Issues. The St. Cloud (MN) Times (2/12) reports the St. Cloud Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is offering a series of free monthly meetings for families of returning soldiers and community members." At the meetings, which will take place "on the fourth Thursday of each month in Building 28, Room 148," experts "will speak about common readjustment issues that soldiers and their families face."
PTSD The Focus Of Presentations In Oregon. The Medford (OR) Mail Tribune (2/11, Fattig) noted that 57-year-old psychotherapist Ed Tick, "author of the award-winning book ‘War and the Soul’ and founder of the nonprofit Soldier’s Heart organization, will be giving four presentations in the Rogue Valley Thursday through Saturday to help local veterans, their families, medical professionals and communities deal" with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The presentations "are being co-sponsored by the Welcome Home Project," which was started by two psychotherapists last year "to help support returning soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."
Obama Urged To Fight For Active Troops, Vets. In a related editorial, Pennsylvania’s Pocono Record (2/12), which notes that the US Army "disclosed recently that at least 128 soldiers killed themselves during 2008," says President Barack Obama "should use his bully pulpit to help ensure all active troops and veterans alike get the physical and emotional support they need and deserve."
2. Congressional Leaders Say Shinseki Can Help VA. The syndicated "Sgt. Shaft" column, appearing in the Washington Times (2/12, Fales), gives kudos "to retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, who recently took the oath of office as the nation´s seventh secretary of Veterans Affairs." The column notes that Shinseki has been praised by US Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) and US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the respective chairmen of the Veterans Affairs Committees in the House and Senate. According to "Sgt. Shaft," both men say someone like Shinseki is needed to turn things around at an agency that they say has lost the confidence of many veterans.
3. VA Employees Collect Toilet Paper For Shelter In Alaska. KIMO-TV Anchorage, AK (2/11, 6:12 pm. AT) broadcast that Bean’s Café, a non-profit shelter, "is stocking up on some basic necessities with the help of its neighbors." Over the "past four months," Alaska Veterans Affairs Healthcare System employees "have been collecting rolls of toilet paper for Bean’s, more than 1,600 rolls, in fact. Alaska VA’s toilet paper drive was such a hit it exceed its original goal."
4. Three Psychiatrists Decide To Leave Wainwright VAMC. The Walla Walla (WA) Union-Bulletin (2/12, Hagar) reports, "The Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center, including two satellite clinics, is losing three psychiatrists this week, officials said." Dr. Mohammad Khan, who has been "a full-time psychiatrist at the center since March of 2007, is leaving to pursue other opportunities within the VA system, said Director Brian Westfield. Psychiatrists from the Lewiston and Yakima outpatient clinics are also scheduled to leave for other VA positions." The departures "come at a bad time for veterans, Westfield said Tuesday. ‘This puts Walla Walla at a critical disadvantage,’" because "it leaves us with a depleted work force. We’re addressing that through provider contracts."
5. Valentines To Be Distributed To VA Patients. In continuing coverage, the Iowa City Press-Citizen (2/11, Hermiston) reported, "Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center Volunteer Program Manager Gary Strank gets about 25,000 valentines every year," but the "vast majority…aren’t for him." And this year’s collection is no different, as the holiday greetings will "go to hundreds of patients at the VA Iowa City Health Care System." The Press-Citizen added that the "public is invited to come Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to the VA hospital to distribute valentines to patients as part of the Annual National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans."
Public Encouraged To Thank Vets In Person. In a letter to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette (2/11), Louis A. Johnson VA Healthcare System Director William E. Cox, who also noted the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, extended
"an invitation to the community to join" the VA "in recognizing and thanking" VA hospital patients.
In a similar letter to the editor of the Boise (ID) Statesman (2/11), Boise VA Medical Center Director DeWayne Hamlin invited "citizens young and old to join" his hospital "in honoring our veterans and learning more about the VA’s volunteer program during the National Salute to Veterans through Feb. 14." Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center Director Alan J. Tyler writes a similar letter to the editor of the Tuscaloosa (AL) News (2/12).
Meanwhile, in an editorial, the St. Cloud (MN) Times (2/12) says this is "national VA Salute to Veterans Week," so "can’t we take a few minutes to help our veterans receiving care at the local facility? Think of all they have done for us."
6. Vet Waits For Go-Ahead On Stroke Rehab Therapy Costs. The Kenai Peninsula (AK) Clarion (2/11, Hermanek) noted that after veteran Richard Creary "suffered a stroke" in January, the staff at Central Peninsula Hospital "decided to have him flown up to the hospital on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage for further care. That’s where he remains today, a month later," while Scharlott Thomas, his significant other, "is being run around the system trying to get him the rehabilitation therapy everyone agrees he must have." However, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Utilization Review Committee "said Creary has to get Medicaid to pay" for the therapy.
7. VA’s Clinic Announcement Sets Off "Flurry Of Activity" In Minnesota. The Austin (MN) Daily Herald (2/12, Bonorden) reports the US Department of Veterans Affairs "plans to open 31 new community-based veterans outpatient clinics in the nation," and two of the new facilities "will be located in Minnesota. One is planned for the northwest Twin Cities Metro area, and the other near the south-central border to Iowa." The Herald notes that when the VA announced its plan to open the clinics, it "set off a flurry of activity in cities as Austin, Rochester, Owatonna and Albert Lea, each vying" for the south-central border facility.
8. Dayton VAMC Opens Newly Renovated Living Center. WDTN-TV Dayton, OH (2/11, 6:15 p.m. ET) broadcast that the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center recently unveiled "its newly renovated," $1.2 million dollar living center. Officials "cut the ribbon to open the Lincoln Estates Center," a community living center for patients who "need nursing home-type care." Officials "say what’s really special about the center is how it’s custom tailored to be like a neighborhood," complete with its own barbershop.
9. Tuscaloosa VAMC Offers Building, Land For Homeless Shelter. The Tuscaloosa (AL) News (2/11, Avant) said the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is offering a 30,000-square-foot brick building along with seven acres of land to any organization or agency for use as a homeless shelter." The property "would be available free under a long-term lease in exchange for opening a shelter on the site." The News added, "About 30 sites on VA campuses" nationwide "have been identified for lease for homeless shelters," and the Tuscaloosa location is one of two such sites in Alabama, according to "Jay Halpern, national director of the VA’s Homeless Initiative."
10. VA Hospital Using "Ambient Experience" MRI. In continuing coverage, the Omaha (NE) World-Herald (2/11, Ruggles, O’Connor) said on Tuesday, the Veterans Affairs medical center "in Omaha…showed off" its new "ambient experience" MRI machine, which offers a "combination of colors, images and sounds designed to tamp down anxiety." The World-Herald’s mention of the VA hospital’s MRI was part of a larger story on similar machines now in use at other Nebraska medical facilities. The paper did add, however, that the Omaha VA hospital’s MRI "is the first of its kind among" US VA hospitals, "said Will Ackerman, a spokesman" for the Omaha facility.
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