Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 5-14-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans 

1. Advance Funding Said To Face "An Uphill Fight."  
2. Brewin: Baker Has "Toughest CIO Job In Washington."  
3. Shinseki, Duckworth Greeting Class Of 2009.  
4. VA Representatives Attend Veterans Summit Held By Sestak.  
5. VA Hospital Said To Be Doing Its Part To Treat Combat Stress.  
6. Colleges Attempting To Help Returning Vets.  
7. US Army Questions Protein’s Ability To Heal Bones.  
8. Britain’s Prince Harry To Visit New York, Stop At VA Hospital. 
9. VA Opens Women-Only Clinic In Tennessee.  
10. Ceremony Celebrates Expansion Of VA Clinic In New Jersey.

1.      Advance Funding Said To Face "An Uphill Fight."   The Air Force Times (5/14, Maze) reports, "Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s Wednesday testimony before a key congressional panel included a buzzkill for the top priority" of all "major veterans service organizations" – advanced funding for veterans healthcare programs. Advanced "funding is a mechanism, endorsed by President Barack Obama, under which Congress would approve" veterans healthcare budgets "one year in advance to avoid any lapse in funding if an annual appropriations bill isn’t approved on time, as often happens." But on Wednesday, "as Shinseki appeared before the House appropriations subcommittee responsible for veterans funding to discuss the 2010 budget, Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, the panel’s ranking" Republican, "said he does not support the idea because he believes it would reduce congressional oversight and make the powerful appropriators who dole out Federal funding irrelevant." The Times adds, "Wamp’s views that advanced funding reduces appropriations committee members’ power – shared by other members – is one reason why the initiative still faces an uphill fight."

2.      Brewin: Baker Has "Toughest CIO Job In Washington."   In continuing coverage, Rob Brewin, writing in his "What’s Brewin’" blog for NextGov (5/13), stated, "First, the good news. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee" this week "unanimously approved the nomination of Roger Baker as assistant secretary for information and technology" and chief information officer (CIO) "at the Veterans Affairs Department. Now the bad news" for Baker: He has the "toughest CIO job in Washington" because he "must meet VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s promise to turn the department into a 21st century organization that relies heavily on automated processes." Baker also "must tackle a bunch of inherited problematic IT systems, including VA’s eight year, $167 million effort to develop a patient scheduling system, which all but collapsed this April." Brewin said Baker also "needs to ensure that VA has in place this summer a partially automated system to quickly process the rich educational benefits under the new, post-9/11 GI bill."

3.      Shinseki, Duckworth Greeting Class Of 2009.   In continuing coverage, the "Federal Eye" blog for the Washington Post (5/13, O’Keefe) said that in the next few weeks, several Obama Administration Cabinet secretaries and "at least one assistant secretary" will "participate in diploma distribution duties across the country, passing on words of encouragement and advice to members of the class of 2009." Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is scheduled to appear "at West Point Graduate Awards Ceremony" on Tuesday, May 19th, while VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth, who already made an appearance "at the Clinton School of Public Service" on April 25 and the "University of Illinois at Chicago College of Applied Health Sciences" on May 7th, is scheduled to appear at the "Chicago School of Professional Psychology" on June 12th.

4.      VA Representatives Attend Veterans Summit Held By Sestak.   In continuing coverage, Pennsylvania’s News Of Delaware County (5/14, Sullivan) reports, "More than 600 veterans, service members and their families filled the auditorium at Ridley High School Monday night for a summit on veterans rights hosted" by US Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). Also "in attendance were over 50 vendors providing information about services available to service members, veterans and their families.

The night was anchored," however, "by a panel discussion featuring many decision-makers" from the Department of Veterans Affairs, "including the Chief of Staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs, John R. Gingrich, as well as the directors of the area" VA hospitals. Gingrich "discussed the projects" that the VA "is working on to better serve veterans," including "an effort to convert all records to an electronic database by 2012." Also "on the VA’s priority list are the creation and construction of three new national cemeteries. The Washington Crossing National Cemetery was dedicated in November in Bucks County as part of that effort."

5.      VA Hospital Said To Be Doing Its Part To Treat Combat Stress.       The KBCI-TV Boise, ID (5/13, Logan) website, which also noted the Camp Victory shootings, pointed out that "experts say the long conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are unique in American history because fewer troops are now serving longer, multiple tours of duty. ‘I’ve seen soldiers who’ve had more than 30 months of continuous combat,’ said Dr. Larry Dewey," chief of psychiatry at the Boise VA Medical Center. He added, "That’s an incredible burden on them and their families."
      Lawmakers Call For Increased Mental Health Funding In DOD Budget.   In a related story, CQ (5/14, Adofo) said as "more reports come to light indicating" that a US "soldier’s inability to deal with stress contributed to the shooting deaths earlier this week of five fellow soldiers at a combat-stress clinic in Iraq, lawmakers are demanding quick legislative action in response. Reps. Michael E. McMahon, D-N.Y., and Tom Rooney, R-Fla., are calling for an increase of $300 million in mental health funding in the Defense Department’s fiscal 2010 budget. During a news conference Wednesday," the two lawmakers "presented a letter, signed by 50 House members, that they plan to send to Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and ranking member C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., calling for the increase." In addition, McMahon and Rooney, along with Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), "asked for quick action on a bill (HR 1308) that would require mandatory mental health screenings for deploying service members. Aides said lawmakers would try to include that bill’s language in the upcoming defense authorization measure."

6.      Colleges Attempting To Help Returning Vets.   The Calvert (MD) Recorder (5/14, Malene) reports, "Colleges and universities are among those trying to respond to issues" Iraq and Afghanistan "veterans might have as they continue their education in a civilian environment after serving in the military. John Schupp, a chemistry professor at Cleveland State University in Ohio, started" the Supportive Education for the Returning Vet (SERV), "a program specifically designed to help veterans make the transition from military life to college life." According to Schupp, SERV offers "veterans-only classes, which lets the veteran relax and focus on what the class is about." Schupp said the Department of Veterans Affairs "is willing to work with colleges and, once you get that first group of veterans in, they will help promote the program."

7.      US Army Questions Protein’s Ability To Heal Bones.   In continuing coverage, the Wall Street Journal (5/14, Burton) reports, "An investigation by Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington found ‘a number of serious questions’ about a study by a former surgeon at the hospital evaluating the use of a bone-growth protein in soldiers with leg fractures." Hospital "officials said the study" by Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo "was based on ‘falsified information.’" Kuklo’s "research, published in August and since retracted by the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, seemingly showed advantages in healing of leg injuries when doctors used the bone protein, called Infuse, from Medtronic Inc." Kuklo "is a consultant for the Minneapolis company." The Journal adds, "The New York Times reported the news earlier."

8.      Britain’s Prince Harry To Visit New York, Stop At VA Hospital.   The AP (5/14) reports, "Prince Harry will travel to New York City this month on a high profile trip that will include a visit to ground zero" and a trip to the Veterans Affairs medical center in Manhattan, where he will "meet with wounded veterans." The two-day trip, which begins on May 29th, "will be Harry’s first formal overseas engagement outside Britain. He has frequently traveled abroad, but this will be the first time he officially represents Britain’s royal family on such a trip," which is "in part intended to help ease the prince into his royal role, St. James’s Palace announced."

9.      VA Opens Women-Only Clinic In Tennessee.   The AP (5/14) reports, "A new veterans clinic for women only is opening in Nashville and officials say it is one of the most comprehensive Veterans Affairs women’s care clinics in the country. MaryAnn Woodward-Smith, who oversees women’s care for the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, said the clinic opening Wednesday is a sign that the VA is expanding services to women." The AP adds that in her Chattanooga (TN) Times Free Press (5/13) column, Lauren Gregory "reported the clinic…is staffed entirely by women."

10.    Ceremony Celebrates Expansion Of VA Clinic In New Jersey.   The Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier Post (5/14) reports, "A ceremony on" Tuesday "celebrated the expansion" of Gloucester County’s Veterans Affairs Health Clinic. The Courier Post notes that the VA "is increasing its staff from 15 to 25 as a result of the expansion."