Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 8-21-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. IG Issues "Scathing" Reports On VA Technology Office Employees.  
2. Quality Measurement, IT Said To Have Transformed VHA.  
3. VA Awards Contracts For Pennsylvania Cemetery.  
4. Shinseki To Speak At Hawaii Statehood Conference.  
5. Schools Urged To Re-Examine Policies For Granting College Credit To Veterans
6. Vet-To-Vet Therapy Expanding In Montana.  
7. FDA Taps VA Official To Lead Center For Tobacco Products.  
8. Veterans’ Wish For New VA Clinic In New York Comes True.  
9. VA Providing Vets In Need Of Assistance With Power To Direct Their Own Care.  
10. VA Awards $8.8 Million For Washington State Veterans Cemetery.

1.      IG Issues "Scathing" Reports On VA Technology Office Employees.   The AP (8/21, Hefling) reports, "Thousands of technology office employees at the Veterans Affairs Department received a total of $24 million in bonuses over a two-year period, some under questionable circumstances, the agency’s inspector general said in scathing reports that also detail abuses ranging from nepotism to an inappropriate relationship." The "details on the alleged improprieties were in two IG reports issued this week. VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts said the agency was extremely concerned about the IG’s findings and would pursue a thorough review," while "Indiana Rep. Steve Buyer, top Republican" on the House Veterans Affairs committee, "urged quick action to fix the problems."
      A slightly different version of this AP (8/21) story begins by stating, "Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses." The lead item in the Los Angeles Times‘ (8/21) "National Briefing" column also takes note of the bonuses.
      NextGov (8/21, Nagesh) reports, "A VA spokesman issued the following statement about the reports: ‘VA is aware of the findings detailed in the OIG reports,’" and "we are extremely concerned by the descriptions of alleged improper conduct by VA staff. The department is aggressively pursuing a thorough review of the situation and will continue to work with the appropriate authorities. VA does not condone misconduct by its employees and will take the appropriate corrective action for those who violate VA policy." Meanwhile, in his "What’s Brewin’" blog for NextGov (8/20), Bob Brewin emphasized "that these reports have nothing to do with the current VA IT management." 

2.      Quality Measurement, IT Said To Have Transformed VHA.   In continuing coverage, Modern Healthcare (8/21, DerGurahian, 72K) reports, "The Veterans Health Administration has undergone a transformation to improve its quality of services, with a big focus on quality measurement and information technology contributing to their efforts, a new Congressional Budget Office report says." The VA’s VistA IT systems play "a ‘key role’ in measuring performance, the CBO wrote in its August report." But "while some proponents of the system say VistA has helped repress cost growth, compared with other Federal programs like Medicare that have seen increases, that outcome is difficult to report conclusively, according to the CBO," which also said more work is needed for the VA to achieve interoperability data with other agencies and private providers. That "conclusion echoes another" recent report "from the Government Accountability Office, which said the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments are on their way toward interoperable health records by a mandated Sept. 30 deadline, but they aren’t there yet."
      Congress Urged To Press DoD-VA Officials On Record Sharing.   In a related editorial, the Navy Times (8/21, 53K) says, "For years, the Pentagon" and the VA "have struggled to build a system that can quickly and easily share medical records of troops moving from the military’s health care system into
VA’s." But earlier "this month, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki made some jaws drop when he said: ‘Trying to do ‘seamless transition,’ when a youngster takes off a uniform today and is inducted into [VA] tomorrow – near impossible.’ Shinseki said the focus should shift from trying to share incompatible data in current troop records to creating records from scratch for new recruits that VA could ‘read’ when they leave the military years from now." But what "does that mean for the countless troops leaving service and shifting to VA right now?" The Times argues that "lawmakers must call defense and VA officials on the carpet and press them hard about what is, and is not, possible. Then Congress must set clear goals and hound the agencies until they accomplish this vital mission that has languished for too long." 

3.      VA Awards Contracts For Pennsylvania Cemetery.   In continuing coverage, the Trenton (NJ) Times (8/21, Cusido) reports the US Department of Veterans Affairs "has awarded two contracts totaling $8.7 million to prepare the new Washington Crossing National Cemetery for burials. ‘This national shrine will honor the military service of thousands of men and women well into the future,’" VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "said in a prepared statement. He added that providing a national cemetery for veterans in Pennsylvania is a priority for the department." The Bucks County (PA) Courier Times (8/21, McIver) publishes a similar story.
      Spokeswoman: First Burial Expected By End Of This Year Or Early Next.   In a related story, the Allentown (PA) Morning Call (8/21, Orenstein, 107K) reports, "Work has started on the Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Bucks County, with the first burial anticipated this winter," a VA "spokeswoman said Thursday. ‘We expect the first burial by the end of this year, early next year,’ spokeswoman Jo Schuda said." The Morning Call notes that the VA "hired US Builders Group Inc., a Detroit business owned by a disabled veteran, for $7.2 million to prepare the 20 acres that will be used for two years while the remainder of the cemetery is developed." The VA "also awarded a second contract for $1.5 million to Cairone and Kaupp Inc. of Philadelphia to prepare construction documents. The firm will design a permanent administration and maintenance complex, two other buildings, a public assembly area and roads, utilities and landscaping." 

4.      Shinseki To Speak At Hawaii Statehood Conference.   The Honolulu Advertiser (8/21, Aguiar, 135K) reports, "Hawai’i marks its 50th anniversary of statehood" Friday "with a conference that asks what the next 50 years will look like. More than 1,600 people have registered, but space is still available for those wishing to attend." However, people ":who have registered are excited about the lineup" of speakers, "including retired Gen. Eric Shinseki," secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. 
 

5.    Schools Urged To Re-Examine Policies For Granting College Credit To Veterans.   The AP (8/21, Zagier) reports, "Nearly half a million veterans are expected on college campuses this year as part of the new GI Bill," and that "surge is leading to a call for schools to re-examine their policies of declining to grant college credit for military training and service. An estimated one in five colleges and universities do not give academic credit for military education, according to a recent survey of 723 schools by the American Council on Education that is believed to be the first systematic measure. Even more of the schools, 36 percent, said they don’t award credit for military occupational training," and for some veterans, "that can mean spending more on tuition,
stretching financial aid or GI Bill scholarships and delaying their entry into the work force."   

6.      Vet-To-Vet Therapy Expanding In Montana.   The Helena (MT) Independent Record (8/21, Kidston) reports, "Mental health care for veterans has come a long way in the past five years, scoring small victories across the state" of Montana. Two "mobile counseling units will be up and running in the coming months, bringing mental health care to veterans in rural Montana communities." And earlier this month, the US Department of Veterans Affairs "approved 28 new vet centers across the country, including two for Montana. But in such a rural state as Montana," a vet-to-vet program, which allows veterans to discuss issues like post-traumatic stress disorder with one another, "is hard to beat, and Pamela Mann, the recovery coordinator" for the VA hospital "at Fort Harrison, has watched the effort blossom in the two-plus years she has held her position. ‘It has expanded to several other groups around the state,’ she said." The Record adds that the "VA strongly supports the program."  

7.      FDA Taps VA Official To Lead Center For Tobacco Products.   In continuing coverage, the Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch (8/20, Blackwell) reported, "As chief public-health officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Lawrence Deyton is credited with improving the agency’s tobacco-cessation programs for veterans. Now, Deyton will lead the Food and Drug Administration’s newly created Center for Tobacco Products, which is tasked with regulating the $80 billion" US tobacco industry. ON Wednesday, the FDA "announced Deyton’s appointment…as director of the center, which will have sweeping influence over the industry by setting standards for tobacco products, reviewing applications for new and reduced-risk products, and enforcing advertising restrictions." The FDA "said in a statement that Deyton was chosen for the post partly because he revitalized the VA’s tobacco-cessation program." Government Executive (8/21, Long) says during Deyton’s "tenure at VA," the agency’s "tobacco cessation program reduced smoking among enrolled" vets "from 33 percent to 22 percent."  

8.      Veterans’ Wish For New VA Clinic In New York Comes True.   In continuing coverage, the East Meadow (NY) Herald (8/21, Caputo, 4K) reports, "It seemed as if something always stood in the way of local veterans and their quest for a new health clinic at the Nassau University Medical Center," but their "wish came true last week, as the Nassau County Legislature voted on a lease agreement that authorized the move of the Veterans Administration community clinic from an aging Plainview office to a new home at the NUMC in East Meadow." The Herald adds, "When it comes to urgent matters, the sole option for East Meadow veterans in need of healthcare is to travel 35 miles" to
the Northport VA Medical Center "in Suffolk County. Having a new home in East Meadow significantly cuts down on that travel." 

9.      VA Providing Vets In Need Of Assistance With Power To Direct Their Own Care.   The St. Joseph (MI) Herald Palladium (8/21, Aiken) reports, "Christine Vanlandingham, fund and product development officer for the Area Agency on Aging Region IV office in St. Joseph, said Southwest Michigan is the first part of the country to pilot" the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ "new Directed Home- and Community-Based Services Program." In February, the VA "awarded $11 million to 10 states…to implement the home-based and community-based service program. The aim is to give veterans of any age, who are in a nursing facility or at risk of such placement, the power to direct their own home-based and community services." The "overall cost of the program is less than half of the expense of assisted living housing, officials said." 

10.    VA Awards $8.8 Million For Washington State Veterans Cemetery.   The Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal (8/21) reports, "A planned veterans’ cemetery in Eastern Washington has been given an $8.8 million award" by the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The "Washington State Veterans Cemetery will be located in Medical Lake, 15 miles southwest of Spokane." Washington "has only one other veterans’ cemetery in the state."
      Work Said To Have Begun On Cemetery’s First Phase.   The Spokane (WA) Journal Of Business (8/21, McLean) reports, "Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, has started work on the $9.5 million first phase of the Washington State Veterans Cemetery-Medical Lake, says Richard Cesler, the cemetery’s director." The facility "is slated to open next Memorial Day."