Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 8-27-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Shinseki Gets Demonstration Of How VA Black Hills Is Reaching Out To Rural Vets.  
2. VA Seeking To Make It Easier For Vets To Claim Service Connection To PTSD.  
3. Report: Better Training, Communication Needed In Warrior Transition Units.  
4. VA Cancels Gulf War Illness Research Contract.  
5. D-Day Memorial Could Be Brought Into Federal System.  
6. Vet Center Team Leader To Speak At Forum.  
7. Sestak Criticizes Specter For His Stance On Veterans Care Pamphlet.  
8. Healing House Dedicated At Spokane VAMC.  
9. Atlanta VAMC Receives Designation For Quality Patient Care.  
10.     VA Awards Funding For New Clinic In Maine.

1.      Shinseki Gets Demonstration Of How VA Black Hills Is Reaching Out To Rural Vets.   In continuing coverage, the Rapid City (SD) Journal (8/27, Woster) reports US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Erick Shinseki "got a first-hand look Wednesday at rural health-care outreach techniques" employed by the VA Black Hills Health Care System. Shinseki joined US Sen. Tim Johnson and US Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin "at the VA’s Fort Meade medical center for a demonstration on tele-medicine techniques and their value in meeting the medical needs of veterans in rural areas. Johnson and Herseth Sandlin invited Shinseki to see the VA facilities in Fort Meade, before moving onto the VA hospital in Sioux Falls on Thursday." A separate story in the Rapid City (SD) Journal (8/27, Woster) also notes briefly Shinseki’s Fort Meade visit, saying that while there with the Secretary, Johnson "wanted to praise Ted Kennedy the friend who showed up at Johnson’s Senate office soon after the senator was stricken in December 2006 by a brain hemorrhage."
      Secretary, Lawmakers To Take Part In Forum At Sioux Falls VAMC.   The KELO-TV Sioux Falls, SD (8/26) website noted that Johnson and Herseth Sandlin, the "two Democratic members of South Dakota’s congressional delegation," and Shinseki "plan to take part Thursday in a forum with members of veterans organizations. The event is planned for the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center auditorium. In a release," the two lawmakers "said representatives of the groups can ask questions on issues most relevant to the veterans they serve. The delegation members said veterans are invited as well." The AP (8/27) also notes Shinseki will be at the forum. 

 2.      VA Seeking To Make It Easier For Vets To Claim Service Connection To PTSD.   In continuing coverage, the lead item in the Kaua’i (HI) Garden Island News‘ (8/26, Hubahib) "Kaua’i Veterans News And Information" column noted that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki recently "announced the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking steps to assist veterans seeking compensation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." According "to a news release, the VA is publishing a proposed regulation in the Federal Register to make it easier for a veteran to claim service connection to PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the stress claimed by a veteran is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days," and a "final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received."
      The KRDO-TV Colorado Springs, CO (8/26, Simeone) website said that as "thousands of Ft. Carson Soldiers return from serving in Iraq," the VA "is looking at ways to provide soldiers with the help they need, faster." Under a "new proposal, the VA would not require evidence for ‘non-combat’ soldiers if a VA psychiatrist of psychologist were to confirm that an experience, as opposed to an actual event, caused PTSD. ‘The hidden wounds of war are being addressed vigorously and comprehensively by this administration as we move VA forward in its transformation of the 21st century,’ VA Secretary Erik Shinseki "said in a news
release. Recent studies show more-and-more soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are reporting symptoms of PTSD upon returning home." For example, the VA "teamed with the University of California, San Francisco in one study that showed 22% of soldiers who were treated by the VA between April 2002 and March 2008 had symptoms of PTSD."
      In a related story, Medill Reports (8/27, Suran), which is written and produced by graduate journalism students at Northwestern University’s Medill School, says that Vietnam vet Gil Rivera "first noticed signs of his PTSD during the war, the disorder wasn’t even recognized as an illness." Rivera "said the VA forces veterans to bend over backwards to prove they have current problems caused by a war that took place decades ago," but VA representatives "claim to encourage veterans to seek proper care at designated hospitals." And when "someone does not qualify," one such representative, Kate Chard, the director of the PTSD Division at Cincinnati VA Medical Center, "refers the patient to a Vet Center. ‘The centers are a lot smaller…they have peer support groups where you can get that connection … [it’s] a nice augment…for patients not eligible for VA care,’ she said."
      Giffords Angered By Shinseki’s Vet Center Letter.   The Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald (8/26, Hess) reported, "An attempt to open a veterans care center in Cochise County has been shot down" by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. The "no from…Shinseki has angered" US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), "who has been pushing for a special center to be located in Sierra Vista." The Herald added, "’The VA decision is shortsighted and dismissive of the many veterans who live in rural Southeastern Arizona,’ Giffords said Tuesday, calling an Aug. 17 letter from Shinseki to her a slap in the face to the more than 20,000 veterans who call Cochise County home."  

3.      Report: Better Training, Communication Needed In Warrior Transition Units.   The AP (8/27, Maurer) reports US soldiers "recovering in special Army medical units have faced inconsistent discipline because the military hasn’t adopted standards for how they and their commanders should act, according" to a review by the Army Surgeon General. The review, which the AP says it obtained Tuesday, "said the units’ leaders need better training and should do a better job of communicating with the almost 9,000 wounded and ill soldiers in the Warrior Transition system." Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, "who ordered" the review in March after the AP "reported on soldier complaints that officers were indifferent to their medical needs and punished them for the very injuries that landed" them in the units, "said Wednesday that the review will only improve" the 34 Warrior Transition units, which "were set up two years ago to help soldiers navigate the medical system and monitor their progress and treatment following the scandal over shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington." 

 4.      VA Cancels Gulf War Illness Research Contract.   The AP (8/27, Gamboa) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has canceled a $75 million, five-year research contract with a Texas medical center studying illnesses suffered by veterans of the first Gulf War." The VA, however, "says research on the illnesses…remains a priority. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, a Democrat from Hawaii, has been pushing to the end the sole-source contract with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center," located in Dallas, Texas. After noting that money "for the contract was added to a 2005 spending bill by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas when the GOP had the majority in Congress."
      Hutchison: Cancellation Means Setback For "Groundbreaking Research."   The Dallas Morning News (8/27, Parks, 360K) reports Hutchison "said Wednesday that the VA’s decision deals a setback to…’groundbreaking research.’ ‘These combat veterans have had to deal with the VA’s denial of the existence of their illnesses, and now they see the VA halting this important research before it is completed,’ said" the lawmaker.

 5.      D-Day Memorial Could Be Brought Into Federal System.   The AP (8/27, Lindsey) reports, "A National Park Service team assessing the private National D-Day Memorial must determine whether it legally can and should take the financially troubled outdoor museum into the Federal system, an official said Wednesday. Park Service officials must determine whether an act allowing acceptance of a site by presidential proclamation can be used in this case, Terry Moore," the "chief of park planning for the Northeast Region, said at a news conference. The act has been used primarily for historical sites, he said, while the Bedford memorial is a modern tribute to an event that occurred elsewhere." The AP notes that the museum was built in Bedford, Virginia, "because the community suffered one of the nation’s highest per-capita losses on D-Day."
      WWII Vet Given Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award.   On its website, WKBT-TV La Crosse, WI (8/26) noted that Harry W. Eichman, a "Trempealeau veteran who fought in World War II," was recently "honored for his service to the
 United States. In a ceremony during the August 21 meeting of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs at American Legion Post 74 in Neillsville," Eichman "was presented the Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award for August 2009." Eichman "is the ninth recipient" of the award.  

6.      Vet Center Team Leader To Speak At Forum.   The Yakima (WA) Herald-Republic (8/26, 36K) reported, "The Southeast Yakima Community Center is hosting a free Community Veterans Forum Thursday afternoon, and all local veterans are invited." Guest "speakers include Larry Wilson, team leader of the Yakima Valley Vet Center."  

7.      Sestak Criticizes Specter For His Stance On Veterans Care Pamphlet.   In continuing coverage, the Delaware County (PA) Times (8/27, Rose) says US Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and US Rep. Joseph Sestak (D-PA) "have been throwing almost daily jabs at one another for the past two months," so why "should Tuesday be any different? In a letter Monday" to US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), "chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Specter requested a hearing on whether a Veterans Administration pamphlet concerning end-of-life-care for veterans ‘inappropriately pressures disabled veterans who forgo critical care by subtly urging them on end-of-life decisions.’" However, in a "release Tuesday," Sestak, who "is challenging Specter in the 2010 Democratic primary" election, "took umbrage with the Aug. 18 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece from former George W. Bush administration aide Jim Towey that opened this new can of worms in the middle of a nationwide debate of health-care reform, as well as Specter’s involvement with the issue." Sestak "called the piece the same kind of ‘sensationalized rhetoric and misleading accusations behind the misinformation on ‘death panels’ in the health-care reform debate’ and chastised Specter for lending credence to the pamphlet’s opponents."
      Pamphlet Defended, Criticized.   Similarly, in a story headlined, "VA Is Right to Help You Consider End-of-Life Choices," three letters to the editor of the Wall Street Journal (8/27, A14, 2.01M) dispute arguments made in the op-ed by Towey, who restated his criticisms of "Your Life, Your Choices," the pamphlet in question, during a video segment for the online "Washington Unplugged," which is produced by CBS News (8/26). In that same video segment, the pamphlet was defended by Huffington Post (8/25) News Editor Marcus Baram, but it was again criticized on the Washington Post (8/26, 652K) website, which published a transcript of an online chat between readers and the Atlantic Monthly’s Megan McArdle, who discussed "why she opposes health-care reform." At one point in the chat, McArdle said, "I will say that I recently read the VA’s end-of-life booklet, and I did find it rather creepily biased towards choosing to pull the plug. That may just be me, and I have no reason to think that this was intentional, but it does show that it really matters how you frame these issues."
  

8.      Healing House Dedicated At Spokane VAMC.   The Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review (8/27, Graman) reports, "The Native American Veterans Healing Center was dedicated at the Spokane Veteran Affairs Medical Center on Wednesday." Officials with the VA "said the structure was built in recognition of American Indian contributions to the US armed forces with the understanding that warriors cannot be healed physically until they also are healed spiritually." The facility "incorporates two sweat lodges, one for women and one for men. 

 9.      Atlanta VAMC Receives Designation For Quality Patient Care.   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (8/27, Poole, 306K) reports the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center "recently received the ‘Magnet’ designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center," which awards the "designation…to hospitals that meet specific criteria for nursing professionalism, teamwork and high standards" in patient care. The Journal-Constitution adds, "Only about 6 percent of hospitals across the United States receive the designation." 

10.    VA Awards Funding For New Clinic In Maine.   The Bangor (ME) Daily News (8/27, Haskell) reports the US Department of Veterans Affairs "has awarded funding for a new community-based outpatient clinic for veterans that will be built in Bangor." On Tuesday, US Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME), "who is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, announced the funding" for the clinic, which "will be built on the campus of the Maine Veterans Home on Hogan Road." The facility "will be built, owned and maintained by C.D. Smith Construction Inc. of Fond-du-Lac, Wis., and leased to the VA." James Doherty, "a spokesman for the Togus VA Medical Center, said Tuesday that the nearly 30,000-square-foot facility will be about three times the size of other VA clinics in Maine. It will replace the outgrown VA clinic on Hancock Street," he said.