Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 5-7-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Wilson To Answer Questions About New GI Bill.  
2. House Committee Approves Several Veterans-Related Bills.  
3. Researcher Urges Communities To Do More For Troubled Vets.  
4. Iraq Vet Helps Set Up Open House At Roseburg VAMC.  
5. Judge Sets Limits On Iraq Vet’s Mental Health Exam.  
6. Debate Surrounds VistA’s Merits As A Viable Replacement For Paper Records.  
7. NIH Biomedical Research Grant Announced At Boise VAMC.  
8. Ceremony Held For New VA Clinic In Tennessee.  
9. Forum To Discuss Future Of VA Clinic In New York.  
10. Bidding Process To Determine New Location For VA Clinic.

1.      Wilson To Answer Questions About New GI Bill.   In continuing coverage, the Greenville (SC) News (5/7, Barnett) reports, "A high-ranking official" of the US Department of Veterans Affairs "will answer questions" about the Post-9/11 GI Bill "at an event at the University Center of Greenville on Thursday, according to the University Center. The program, to be led by Keith Wilson, director of Education Service" for the VA, "will be transmitted to locations in Columbia and Charleston by video conference." Wilson "also will speak about the Yellow Ribbon Program, which is designed to help cover costs not included under" the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
      Lawmaker Praises Bill.   The Seymour (IN) Tribune (5/7) notes that the VA "started processing applications on May 1 for certifications of eligibility for the enhanced benefits under" the new GI Bill, which "qualifies veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars" to "have access to full, four-year college scholarships. ‘The new GI Bill is a significant step forward in our effort to honor the men and women who courageously serve our nation,’ Indiana 9th Rep. Baron Hill said. The VA has set up" a website "with detailed information on the new GI Bill," but Hill, a Democrat, "said questions about benefits may be directed to his Bloomington office."

2.      House Committee Approves Several Veterans-Related Bills.   In continuing coverage, CQ (5/7, Adofo) notes that on Wednesday, the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved bill HR 23, which would "extend veterans benefits to World War II merchant mariners," despite "Republican objections" that mariners would be favored "at the expense of other groups" who "have provided military-related service." The "committee also approved" several other measures, including HR 1170, which "would establish a grant program for the development of technologies to adapt housing for disabled veterans," HR 1088, which would "provide a one-year period for the training of new disabled veterans’ outreach program specialists and local veterans’ employment representatives," and HR 1089, which would give the Veterans Affairs Department Office of Special Counsel "exclusive jurisdiction in enforcing employment rights of veterans and members of the armed forces employed" by Federal executive agencies.
      Following "Legislative Skirmish," Benefits Approved For Merchant Mariners.   The Navy Times (5/7, Maze) reports, "A new World War II battle was waged Tuesday" in the House Veterans Affairs Committee "as lawmakers tussled over how far to extend veterans’ status to contractors who were part of the war effort. The fight came as the committee considered" a bill "that would provide a $1,000 monthly pension and a chance to use 60-year-old GI Bill education benefits to Merchant Marine veterans who served during World War II." Buyer "argued against the entire bill because it could set a precedent for contractors working alongside" US troops in Iraq "to also demand veterans’ benefits. He "also argued that if Merchant Marine veterans deserved special status, then so do people in 28 similar groups who worked" with the US military during World War II. The "legislative skirmish ended with a 15-14 vote that excluded the 28 additional groups, and sends the Merchant Marine bill" off "to a future vote by the full House."
      Lawmakers Also Approve Housing Grants For Disabled Vets.   CongressDaily (5/7, Posner) reports, "The House Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday quickly approved a grant program for inventors to design better housing for severely disabled

 veterans. By a voice vote, the committee approved" HR 1170, which is also "expected to win" full House approval. It "authorizes $2 million a year for five years — FY 10 through FY14 — for grants up to $200,000 a year for innovative housing concepts."

3.      Researcher Urges Communities To Do More For Troubled Vets.   The Army Times (5/7, Kennedy) says the US military "prides itself on taking care of its own," but a "researcher who has studied" post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "said local communities must play a larger role in the safety net for combat veterans. If local organizations do not reach out proactively to the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to become more engaged in treating the veterans returning to their communities, they can expect the veterans’ pain to affect their families, their ability to contribute to society, and even their ability to care for themselves, said Audrey Burnam, senior behavioral scientist at the Rand Corp. think tank." Burnam, "who spoke at a Health Affairs Journal panel May 5 in Washington, is the lead author of a new Rand report, ‘Mental Health Care for Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans,’ that makes a case for a broad reform of services that looks beyond VA." But Matthew Friedman, executive director of VA’s National Center for PTSD, "said he thinks VA and the Defense Department can meet the clinical needs of service members and veterans – if people are reached early."

4.      Iraq Vet Helps Set Up Open House At Roseburg VAMC.   The Roseburg (OR) News-Review (5/7, Harshman) reports Iraq veteran Heather Gilbert "admits that she used to write angry letters about the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center to send to the newspaper." But after "months of being angry, Gilbert heeded the words of her grandfather, Charles Branaugh," who told her to fix things. Eventually, Gilbert "set up a meeting" with the hospital’s director, Susan Yeager, who agreed to work with Gilbert. As a result of that meeting, "Gilbert, Yeager and patient education coordinator Lynda Pope are launching a pilot program Friday," one which "is designed as an open house for veterans. Representatives from various VA programs…will provide veterans with information about the available services and answer questions." Depending "on the feedback from veterans, Yeager said the open house may become a regular program."

5.      Judge Sets Limits On Iraq Vet’s Mental Health Exam.   In continuing coverage, the Altoona (PA) Mirror (5/6, Ray) said a judge ruled Monday "that a pending mental health examination" of 28-year-old Iraq veteran Nicholas Horner "will be limited to whether he can comprehend that he is accused of crimes and can participate in his own defense." Horner "is in the Blair County Prison awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges that stemmed from an April 6 robbery at the Subway at 100 58th St., and the homicides of Scott Garlick, 19, who was working there, and Raymond Eugene Williams, 64, who lived nearby." At the "time of the shootings, Horner was undergoing treatment" at the Van Zandt Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Altoona for post-traumatic stress disorder."

6.      Debate Surrounds VistA’s Merits As A Viable Replacement For Paper Records.   In continuing coverage, FierceHealthcare (5/7, Bowman) says VistA, the Department of Veterans Affair’s open-source software, has allowed "West Virginia –which is not exactly a financial or technological" hotbed — to go paperless and "use fully computerized records for its state-run hospitals and nursing homes." And Phillip Longman, "author of a book about the VA’s quality-of-care revolution, believes it’s a travesty that the software isn’t being utilized more." Some "technology experts argue," however, that "although VistA’s software is essentially free, installation and maintenance costs — which could climb into the millions of dollars–remain a very real hurdle." But in a related story, Lincoln (MA) Journal (5/7) columnist Rob Stuart-Vail praises VistA.

7.      NIH Biomedical Research Grant Announced At Boise VAMC.   The AP (5/6) noted, "The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $16.5 million grant to 10 Idaho colleges, universities and research institutions to help support biomedical research. The money will go to extend a statewide network called" the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), "until 2014. The announcement was made Tuesday morning at the Boise Veterans Administration Medical Center."

8.      Ceremony Held For New VA Clinic In Tennessee.   The Rogersville (TN) Review (5/7, Grubb) reports, "Providing ‘the right care’ is the mission" of the Veterans Affair’s "new outpatient clinic, according to Charlene Ehret, director of the James H. Quillen VA Medical Center. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the clinic, located at 401 Scenic Drive, was held Friday with First District Congressman Phil Roe serving as the keynote speaker, although an audience of veterans the facility will serve where the guests of honor." Roe, "a physician and former veteran, said he requested assignment to the Veterans Affairs Committee and is proud the VA has located clinics in the region."

9.      Forum To Discuss Future Of VA Clinic In New York.   The Plattsburgh (NY) Press Republican (5/6, McKinstry) reported, "Anyone who wants to comment about plans to move" the US Veterans Affairs clinic "out of Elizabethtown may do so at a forum Thursday. The session, sponsored by the VA to obtain public input, will be held at 1 p.m. in the Essex County Board of Supervisors chambers in the Old County Courthouse in Elizabethtown." The clinic "has been operated at Elizabethtown Community Hospital, under contract with the VA, using a part-time doctor and physician’s assistants." But "new VA rules may require a full-time physician for such clinics, which hospital officials said is a requirement they can’t meet." Essex County "Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava (R-Moriah) said he is telling everyone to go to the forum" or "we’ll lose that clinic."
      In a later story, the Plattsburgh (NY) Press Republican (5/7, Reiner) says, "Elizabethtown Community Hospital CEO Rod Boula is concerned about the possible closure" of the clinic, "which has been housed in that facility for more than two decades. Boula, a Vietnam-era veteran, received the approximately 60-page" VA "proposal April

15 and plans to have his input completed by the May 15 deadline." The VA "said it wants to relocate the clinic to Saranac Lake or Lake Placid."

10.    Bidding Process To Determine New Location For VA Clinic.   In a story noting that "tenants of St. Joseph Community Center in Lorain are in the process of finding new locations in the city and county before the center…closes at the end of this year," Ohio’s Morning Journal (5/5, Green) said one such tenant, the Lorain outpatient Veterans Affairs clinic, "will within the next month go through a bidding process to determine its new location in Lorain County, according to Sean Nelson, chief of external affairs for the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Regardless of what happens, he said service will continue in Lorain County – although it might not be" in the city of Lorain.