Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 7-02-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Shinseki’s Rural Tour Visit Seen As Tied Into Presidential Campaign Concerns.  
2. Obama, Shinseki, Congress Urged To Deal With Claims Backlog.  
3. Duckworth Says VA Is "Going Through A Whole Transformation."  
4. Duckworth Touts Benefits Offered By New GI Bill.  
5. DeBakey VAMC Receives Grant To Create Brain Injury Center.  
6. Buffalo VAMC Director Prioritizes Timely Completion Of Medical Examinations.  
7. Fox News, Iraq Vet Raising Money For Special Operations Warrior Fund.  
8. Rove Notes Sacrifice Made In Iraq By "Remarkable" US Family.  
9. VAPAHCS Breaks Ground On New Mental Health Facility.  
10. Vets Thank Psychiatrist For Post-Retirement Service.

1.      Shinseki’s Rural Tour Visit Seen As Tied Into Presidential Campaign Concerns.   In continuing coverage, the Washington Post‘s (7/1, O’Keefe) "Federal Eye" said some Obama Cabinet secretaries "will visit rural communities over the summer to tout the administration’s plans for those areas of the country. But don’t be fooled: These visits are all happening in presidential swing states and other corners of the country where their mere presence might sway some skeptical minds," such as in "three traditional red states: Louisiana, Alaska and Nebraska." The Post went on to note that on July 20th, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is "scheduled to travel to St. John’s Parish, La. to discuss rural healthcare."

2.      Obama, Shinseki, Congress Urged To Deal With Claims Backlog.   In an editorial, the Houston Chronicle (7/2, 449K) notes that when President Barack Obama "announced his choice of retired Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Department of Veterans Affairs," he called Shinseki "’exactly the right person … to make sure we honor our troops when they come home.’ Today," however, "those returning troops, and thousands more who served before them, are being greeted…with roadblocks and delays in accessing compensation, rehabilitation and medical care, as the VA attempts to cope with what has become a national crisis – a record backlog of disability claims." The Chronicle urges "Obama, Shinseki and Congress to do all in their power to redress this shameful state of affairs as promptly as is humanly possible." Bruce Coulter’s syndicated GateHouse News Service (4/22) column, appearing in the Brockton (MA) Enterprise (7/1), also noted the backlog, which is also briefly mentioned in a Los Angeles Times (7/2, 797K) op-ed by Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz, "coauthors of ‘The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict.’"

3.      VA, Other Federal Agencies Looking To Hire More People.   The Washington Post (7/2, Haynes, 652K) reports "representatives from numerous" Federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, are "trying to figure out how the government can fill an estimated 600,000 positions over the next few years." The Post notes that the VA "is hiring 17,000 doctors, nurses and others to work in VA hospitals as Obama seeks to improve services for veterans."

4.      Duckworth Touts Benefits Offered By New GI Bill.   In continuing coverage, the Burlington (VT) Free Press (7/2, Johnson) reports, "Veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can advance their education under stepped-up" Federal benefits "provided by the Post-9/11 GI Bill – benefits that will be supplemented by many private colleges in a national campaign to make higher education fully affordable" for vets. That "was the message delivered Tuesday" by US Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), "and his guest for the day, Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth, to a receptive audience of educators" and vets at Champlain College. WFFF-TV Burlington, VT (7/1, 7:04 a.m. ET) and WCAX-TV Burlington, VT (7/1, 6:33 a.m. ET) aired similar reports.
      Officials Tell Lawmakers That VA Is Preparing To Dispense New GI Bill Benefits.   On its website, Federal News Radio (7/1, Cacas) said that in a "little over a month," the VA is "expected to begin dispensing benefits from the latest version of the GI Bill." Last week, the House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee "held its latest oversight hearing on the VA’s preparation for the August 1st deadline." The "VA’s Keith Wilson told the subcommittee that the department continues to work with the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center" on a system for managing the benefits. Wilson and "Stephen Warren, the VA’s Acting Chief Information officer," were" also queried on whether their agency has sufficiently informed colleges and universities which will coordinate educational benefits under the new GI Bill. Officials say the VA has held numerous briefings all across the country to help schools get up to speed with the new veterans benefit."

5.      DeBakey VAMC Receives Grant To Create Brain Injury Center.   The Houston Business Journal (7/2) reports the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center "has received a five-year, $5 million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development to create a new VA Rehabilitation Research Center of Excellence focusing on mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. The Neurorehabilitation: Neurons to Networks Center of Excellence will perform tests to determine when the brain is functioning normally as well as help explain persistent impairments so that health care providers can determine the best course of rehabilitation." The Journal notes that approximately "300,000 veterans have suffered brain injury from explosions and blasts during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the VA Center, which provides care to about 10 returning veterans daily."

6.      Buffalo VAMC Director Prioritizes Timely Completion Of Medical Examinations.   In a story profiling William F. Feeley, the new director of the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Buffalo News (6/30, Michel, 188K) said there "are nearly 1 million claims outstanding from veterans across the country." And "while Feeley and his medical staff do not decide who gets a disability pension, they do play a role in assessing the extent of service-related injuries on which pensions are based. That is why Feeley says that ‘timely completion of medical examinations’ for these veterans is a top priority." According to the News, veterans in the region surrounding the Buffalo VAMC "receive the examinations within 25 days, which is 40 percent faster than the VA’s national standard of 35 days. ‘We’re exceeding that standard and want to do it in an even shorter time,’ Feeley said last week during an interview outlining his goals."
7.      North Dakota Legion Begins Program For Veterans.   The KFYR-TV Bismarck, ND (7/1) website said the "North Dakota American Legion is launching a program to help veterans get help." The program, which is "called ‘Courage Carries On,’" and which includes "media spots featuring veterans who faced post-traumatic stress disorder telling other veterans that it’s OK to seek" help, "aims to help veterans deal with stress, military sexual abuse and other problems." North Dakota Gov.

 John Hoeven "says it’s a matter of ‘making sure that soldiers and their families get the help they need.’" KFYR added that Jim Deremo, who chairs the Legion’s Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Committee, "says he plans to present the program at the national American Legion convention in August."

8.      Rove Notes Sacrifice Made In Iraq By "Remarkable" US Family.   Karl Rove, writing in the Wall Street Journal (7/2, 2.01M), tells the story of the Krissoffs, a "remarkable family" that "exemplifies the best in the American spirit of courage and sacrifice." According to Rove, Dr. Bill Krissoff and his wife Christine lost a son in 2006, when Nathan Krissoff was killed in Iraq. Two years later, when Nathan’s older brother Austin was preparing to deploy to Iraq, Dr. Krissoff asked for and was granted an age waiver, which allowed him to serve there as well, as a combat surgeon. Rove concludes, "So long as our nation produces families like the Krissoffs, America will remain not only the greatest nation on earth, but also the most noble in history."

9.      VAPAHCS Breaks Ground On New Mental Health Facility.   The San Jose (CA) Mercury News (7/2, Oremus) reports, "A $1.4 billion flurry of construction" at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System "ramped up Wednesday as officials broke ground on a single-story, 80-bed mental health facility. The new building," which "will bring together services that are now spread across four facilities at the Palo Alto and Menlo Park campuses," will "mean better inpatient care for veterans suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression, doctors said." The News adds, "The $26 million project, slated for completion in summer 2011, is one of several major renovations planned over the next few years at the Palo Alto and Menlo Park campuses. Others include a new blind center, polytrauma center and parking garage in Palo Alto and a 120-bed nursing home in Menlo Park, which is scheduled to open this fall."

10.    Vets Thank Psychiatrist For Post-Retirement Service.   On its website, WVTM-TV Birmingham, AL (7/1, Royer) noted that on Tuesday, veterans who have been counseled by Dr. Winkler Bond, a psychiatrist who "came to the Birmingham Veterans Hospital in 1975 and…retired" in 2001 but who has continued offering his services at the facility "three days a week for no pay," got "together to…say thank you" to Winkler. WVTM noted that Rica Lewis-Payton, the hospital’s director, said Bond’s efforts have been "a tremendous benefit for us and also for the veterans we serve."