Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 6-24-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. New Agency Aims To Eliminate Homelessness Among Vets.  
2. Gulf War Vet Seen As Likely To Take VHA Post.  
3. Shinseki: It Will Take At Least 11 Months To Build Clinic In Nevada.  
4. American University Participating In Yellow Ribbon Program.  
5. VA Comparing Health Of Iraq, Afghanistan Vets To Those Not Deployed.  
6. Specter To Hold Field Hearing On Cancer Treatment Errors.  
7. Ride Honors Veterans  
8. Technology, Care Intersect At VA Clinic In Colorado.  
9. Board Passes Resolution On Location Of Planned VA Clinic.  
10. Police Struggling With Investigation Of Homicide At Montrose VA Hospital.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
National HIV Testing Day is June 27. It is estimated that approximately 21percent or some 230,000 of the 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States are unaware they are infected. These patients are more than likely to become ill due to HIV or transmit HIV to others than individuals who know their HIV status. This is particularly important because more than 56,000 Americans are newly infected with HIV each year. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the single largest provider of HIV care in the United States. In recognition of National HIV Testing Day, the VHA Public Health Strategic Health Care Group is encouraging VHA providers to talk with all of their patients about the importance of routine HIV testing. Such efforts help promote early diagnosis of HIV infection which is critical in accessing appropriate treatment and care. We are promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS and the need to increase testing. “Take the Test, Take Control,” is the national theme for this year’s testing day. National HIV Testing Day provides an important opportunity for VA Communities to raise awareness about early diagnosis and appropriate linkage to care. For additional information about testing, posters, promotional materials and information on other National HIV Testing Day activities, please visit http://www.hivtest.org.

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1.      New Agency Aims To Eliminate Homelessness Among Vets.   The AP (6/24) reports a new Federal agency "dedicated to eliminating homelessness among veterans has been established in Philadelphia." The National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, which is headquartered at the VA hospital in Philadelphia, "with a secondary site" in Tampa, Florida, "plans to provide data, research and analysis to policymakers in hopes of ending the problem within five years." The AP adds, "The $1.8 million initiative was announced in May by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki."

2.      Gulf War Vet Seen As Likely To Take VHA Post.   In his "What’s Brewin’" blog for NextGov (6/23), Bob Brewin writes, "In April, I reported that Dr. Stephen Ondra, professor of neurological surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, had emerged as the likely candidate for under secretary for health" at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). And now, Ondra, a Gulf War vet, "appears even closer to landing" the Veterans Affairs "health job, I have learned. He now has a policy-making GS Schedule C appointment and a VA e-mail address." Brewin adds, "VA Secretary Eric Shinseki needs to go through a formal process," but "while that goes on, I’ve heard Ondra is serving as a top-level adviser to Shinseki."
      VHA Billing Initiative Expected To Bring 200 Jobs To Madison, Wisconsin.   The Madison (WI) Capital Times (6/23) said that by "fall 2010, the Madison area can expect about 200 new full-time jobs as part of an initiative by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to improve billing and collections activities. The new jobs will come from a consolidation of billing and administrative activities" at Veterans Affairs hospitals around the Midwest, which "will help expand the North Central Consolidated Patient Account Center (CPAC) in Middleton. The site for the new facility, which will incorporate all 130 current employees plus more than 200 additional employees, is still being chosen but will be somewhere in the Madison metro area, said Loretta Gulley, director of North Central CPAC."

3.      Shinseki: It Will Take At Least 11 Months To Build Clinic In Nevada.   The Mohave (AZ) Daily News (6/22, Maniaci) noted that Eric Shinseki, the secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs "says its will take a minimum of 11 months to build and staff a part-time outreach clinic in Laughlin once the contract for the building is awarded. In a June 16 letter" to US Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), "relayed to the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation two days later," Shinseki "wrote that the VA’s Southern Nevada health care system ‘plans to contract for staffing and space to operate this new clinic,’" but the "contracting process will take at least 44 weeks before the clinic is staffed and activated." The Daily News added that the clinic "is expected to draw heavy use from military veterans in northwestern Arizona."

4.      American University Participating In Yellow Ribbon Program.   The Washington Business Journal (6/23, Leh) said American University (AU) "has joined two other" Washington, DC, schools that will offer "free or reduced tuition to post-9/11 military veterans as part" of the Yellow Ribbon Program "run by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 allows universities to enter into an agreement" with VA "to share tuition expenses.

Georgetown University and The George Washington University also participate in the program."

5.      VA Comparing Health Of Iraq, Afghanistan Vets To Those Not Deployed.   Modern Healthcare (6/24, Zigmond) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department has started a 10-year study to analyze a range of health issues that may affect veterans who served in Operating Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and their counterparts who served during the same period." In its National Health Study for a New Generation of US Veterans, the VA "will compare 30,000 veterans from Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom with 30,000 comparison veterans who were not deployed. They will be compared in terms of chronic medical conditions, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, reproductive health, pregnancy outcomes, behavioral-risk factors…and VA disability compensation." Modern Healthcare added that in a news release, Gerald Cross, the VA’s acting under secretary for health, said, "This study will help us fulfill President Obama’s pledge to ‘stand with our veterans as they face new challenges’ by enabling us to understand the health problems of our new generation of combat veterans." BN9-TV Tampa, FL (6/23, 4:46 p.m. ET) broadcast a similar story.

6.      Specter To Hold Field Hearing On Cancer Treatment Errors.   In continuing coverage, the Philadelphia Business Journal (6/24, George) reports US Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) "plans to hold a field hearing in Philadelphia on June 29 to examine reports of ‘egregious errors’ in the treatment of veterans in the prostate cancer unit" at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. US Rep. John Adler (D-NJ), "who serves on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, will also participate." The Journal, which notes that a location for the hearing "has not been set," adds, "According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," the Philadelphia VAMC "mishandled radiation-seed therapy to more than 100 prostate cancer patients since 2002. The NRC is also alleging VA officials knew of the problems, but failed to take action."
      Pastor Blames Philadelphia VAMC For Medical Problems.   The Charleston (WV) Gazette (6/23, Balow, 46K) said Ricardo Flippin, a pastor in West Virginia, "believes his painful bowel problems, which left him bedridden for nearly a half year, result from botched surgery for prostate cancer in 2004." And according "to a New York Times article Sunday, Flippin is among nearly 100 veterans whose prostate cancer treatments" at the Philadelphia VAMC "were mishandled." Robb Graham, Flippin’s attorney, "said he filed an administrative claim with the VA, which is pending, and is ready to file a lawsuit against the VA as well."

7.      Ride Honors Veterans.   On its website, WGAL-TV Harrisburg, PA (6/23) reported, "More than 100 motorcyclists rode in honor of veterans" at the Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center "during ‘Operation God Bless America’ on Sunday." The motorcyclists "began their ride in Carlisle and finished" at the hospital. WGAL, which noted that money "was raised for veterans’ recreational needs, including TVs and games, which are not funded by the government," said a "picnic and ceremony followed the ride."

8.      Technology, Care Intersect At VA Clinic In Colorado.   The Craig (CO) Daily Press (6/24, Roberts, 80K) reports, "April Branstetter, a Hayden resident and registered nurse with more than 30 years experience, hadn’t seen too many times when health care and technology intersected. At least not to the extent she does now," working "every day as a nurse…at the Craig VA Telehealth Outreach Clinic. ‘I was pretty impressed coming from the private sector to here with the technology they have,’ said Branstetter, who has worked at the clinic since October 2008." That technology "allows patients to interact and be examined by doctors 150 miles away," at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Grand Junction. The Daily Press says the VA "is preparing to add similar" clinics "in the Moab, Utah-area, and the Glenwood Springs-area."

9.      Board Passes Resolution On Location Of Planned VA Clinic.   The Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/24, Levy, 354K) reports, "A new outpatient clinic for veterans could be ideally housed in the Ramsey Town Center development, the Anoka County Board said Tuesday, citing the development’s proximity to highways, public transportation and parking." In "passing a resolution to support locating" a Veterans Affairs "clinic in the…development, the county board cited Ramsey’s proximity to Hwy. 10, the availability of bus service," and the Northstar commuter rail line, which is "scheduled to open in November." But the US VA "will ultimately decide where the clinic will be built."

10.    Police Struggling With Investigation Of Homicide At Montrose VA Hospital.   The Westchester (NY) Journal News (6/24, Cohen) reports, "The death of Sabrina Rasa remains a mystery three months after she was found strangled" at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Montrose, New York, "and, because she led a nomadic life, investigators are struggling to find people who interacted with her." In fact, police "have yet to locate the person who took Rasa to the Montrose campus, where friends say she had clients as a prostitute and drug addict." Police "said they have questioned employees of Building 29, a staff housing facility where Rasa is suspected of having customers, but were also interviewing people in other VA buildings, as well as former friends and lovers."