Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 7-24-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Electronic Records, Automatic Enrollment Key To Shinseki’s Plans For VA Healthcare.  
2. VA Seen As Potential Trailblazer On Future Of Federal IT Projects.  
3. New GI Bill Transfer Options Take Effect Aug. 1.
4. Military Construction-VA Measure Could Be On Senate’s Agenda Next Week.
5. Positive TB Test Leads VA To Send Out Precautionary Letters.  
6. Wyoming Veteran Participated In National Veterans Wheelchair Games.  
7. Beautification Work Underway At Rosecrans National Cemetery.  
8. VA To Dedicate New Benefits Office In South Carolina.  
9. New Law Could Mean Big Savings For Disabled Vets In Texas.
10. After Visiting Troops Overseas, Quinn Says Illinois VA Will Be Spared Large Cuts.  

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National Resource Directory
The National Resource Directory (NRD) is an online resource for wounded, ill and injured Service Members, Veterans, their families and those who support them. The NRD provides information on, and access to, medical and non–medical services and resources across the country which will help them reach their personal and professional goals as they successfully transition from recovery to community living. The NRD is an online partnership of the Department of Defense, Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as numerous Veteran service and benefit organizations; non–profit community–based and faith–based organizations; academic institutions, professional associations and philanthropic organizations.

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1.      Electronic Records, Automatic Enrollment Key To Shinseki’s Plans For VA Healthcare.   On its website, Texas Public Radio (7/24, Gildea) reports Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki "addressed service members gathered at an Army medical conference in San Antonio Wednesday," using the "opportunity to outline his vision for improving VA healthcare over the next several years." The Secretary, who "took the helm of the VA only six months ago," is "already coming to grips to with the enormous physical and emotional challenges facing" US veterans, and he "says he’s…determined to breakdown the stereotype that the VA is [a] convoluted bureaucracy that can’t serve" them "in an efficient manner." Shinseki "says the key to reducing" the "backlog of disability claims in the VA" is "making medical and service records electronic. He wants to merge the record keeping systems of the VA and the Defense Department," and "he wants all service members automatically enrolled in the VA at the time they join the military so more have access to care after they are discharged."

2.      VA Seen As Potential Trailblazer On Future Of Federal IT Projects.   In continuing coverage, Nick Wakeman said in "Editor’s Notebook" blog for Washington Technology (7/23, 40K) that a recent decision by the Veteran Affairs Department "to halt and perhaps cancel 45 contracts may just be the beginning. Other agencies might follow a similar path, according to a former government official I spoke with recently," because as the "so-called IT Dashboard gains traction, agencies will face increased pressure and public scrutiny of poor performing contracts." Wakeman adds, "Hats off to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and his chief information officer Roger Baker for being the first to make a move." And as for the "companies that hold these poor performing contracts, now" is the "time to act. Either have a plan on how to improve, or be a trusted partner and help your customer shut them down."

3.      New GI Bill Transfer Options Take Effect Aug. 1.   The Army News Service (7/23, McIlvaine).

4.      Military Construction-VA Measure Could Be On Senate’s Agenda Next Week.   CQ (7/24, Scholtes, Coomes) reports, "Appropriations bills will headline the floor agenda next week as the full House turns to the last of its fiscal 2010 measures – Defense – while the Senate could ramp up action on a pair of spending measures," including S 1407, the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill. Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) "said the Senate may…consider" S 1407, which "would also reserve money for certain veterans’ medical accounts in fiscal 2011, in an attempt to put the programs on a two-year budget cycle, making their funding more predictable."

5.      Positive TB Test Leads VA To Send Out Precautionary Letters.   On its website, KGBT-TV Harlingen, TX (7/23, Lopez) reported, "A Public Affairs officer with the Valley’s Veteran Affairs said on May 4th a patient at…their clinic on South Col. Rowe in McAllen tested positive" for tuberculosis (TB). The result "prompted officials to send letters to almost 250 patients. ‘For the safety of our veterans, we did send out a letter to all 249 patients who visited the clinic that day,’ said Public Affairs Officer, Froy Garza." The letter from the VA "stated that, as a precaution, patients who visited the clinic on May 4th should visit the clinic again and get tested for TB. Garza said he is not sure if the letter caused a scare, but it is their duty to inform patients of incidents like this."

6.      Wyoming Veteran Participated In National Veterans Wheelchair Games.   In continuing coverage, the Lusk (WY) Herald (7/24) reports, "Chris Sanstistevan, a disabled Marine Corps veteran from Gillette, Wyo., competed in the 29th National Veterans Wheelchair Games," which were "held July 18 in Spokane, Wash. Attracting more than 500 athletes each year," the Games are co-sponsored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Santistevan is "currently receiving care at the VA medical facility in Gillette."
      Games Praised By Pennsylvania Vet.   The Lebanon (PA) Daily News (7/23) noted that 48-year-old "Jonestown paraplegic athlete Chris Fidler recently won five medals" at the Games. Through a press release, Fidler, who is "currently receiving care" at a VA "medical facility in Lebanon," said the Games, where "camaraderie and competition is second to none," are the "sports highlight of the year for me." The News added, "Attracting more than 500 athletes each year," the Games "is a multi-event sports and rehabilitation program for military service veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition."

7.      Beautification Work Underway At Rosecrans National Cemetery.   The San Diego Union-Tribune (7/23, Liewer, 287K) reported, "With a boost from the economic stimulus program that Congress passed in February," Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery "officials have begun the first of two painstaking projects totaling $4.3 million to spruce up part of the property. They want to bring it up to new" Federal "standards designed to make stateside military cemeteries as impressive as some of America’s exquisite overseas burial grounds. The work is part of a long-term project to beautify" the VA’s "130 national cemeteries. In recent years, Congress has spent $127 million on upgrades," and it "has budgeted $60 million more for this year, a figure pumped up with nearly $24 million from the stimulus package. In the coming year, workers will remove, realign, wash and reset more than 7,000 headstones on 13 acres of Fort Rosecrans." The "cemetery is among the first in the nation to use a new but expensive method of resetting the grave markers that is expected to keep them in place longer."

8.      VA To Dedicate New Benefits Office In South Carolina.   The AP (7/24) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs is dedicating a new benefits office in South Carolina. The VA says a 100,000 square-foot office building is being dedicated Friday at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Campus." Officials "say South Carolina veterans can get help with non-medical benefits at the new office." The AP adds that "Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Benefits Patrick W. Dunne is expected to attend" Friday’s dedication ceremony.

9.      New Law Could Mean Big Savings For Disabled Vets In Texas.   In continuing coverage, KSAT-TV San Antonio, TX (7/23, 5:08 p.m. CT) broadcast, "For severely disabled veterans, a new Texas law" could "mean saving thousands of dollars a year. It’s a total exemption on home property taxes." Disabled veterans qualify for the exemption if the Department of Veterans Affairs "has determined they are unable to work or are getting 100% disability compensation." The "tax break is retroactive" to the beginning of 2009.

10.    After Visiting Troops Overseas, Quinn Says Illinois VA Will Be Spared Large Cuts.   The Chicago Tribune (7/24, Garcia, 498K) reports, "Fresh from a goodwill tour visiting Illinois troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn "on Thursday encouraged citizens to donate frequent flier miles" to a program called Operation Hero Miles, which helps "military families visit wounded loved ones recovering at hospitals around the world." Quinn’s trip "came just days after he and lawmakers reached a budget deal that forces him to make major spending cuts." The Tribune notes that on Thursday, Quinn "cautioned he would not be making large cuts" to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
      Illinois AMVETS Reaching Out To Veterans.   The Peoria (IL) Journal Star (7/23, Yeagle) reported, "The AMVETS Department of Illinois wants local military veterans to know there is help available in dealing with veterans’ issues, and they’re taking that message to the people. At a town hall meeting in the Peoria Public Library" on Wednesday, "representatives from the statewide veteran services organization explained to a group of local veterans just what kind of help it provides, including advice and advocacy on everything from health care to job training." The Journal Star noted that "Ron Ball, readjustment counselor with the Peoria Vet Center," also attended Wednesday’s meeting, vowing to "push until we solve" whatever problem veterans may be facing.