Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 9-09-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Shinseki Appears Before Students To Support Obama’s Education Message.  
2. New Post-Deployment Clinic Opens In Houston.  
3. Support Group For Families Of Vets Returning To Civilian Life Offered In Washington.  
4. Defense Department Developing Network To Address Vets’ Needs.  
5. VA Care Lauded.
6. Researchers Developing Virtual Environment To Help Veterans With PTSD, TBI.  
7. HUD Announces Funding For Homeless Vets In New York.  
8. VA Expected To Hire Tens Of Thousands In Coming Years.  
9. Resolution Honors Wheelchair Games Vet.  
10.     Florida Mother Reflects On Anniversary Of Son’s Death At Local VA Cemetery. 

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VA has received many reports that Veterans are being contacted by "Patient Care Group" representing that they are helping administer VA prescriptions and stating that the pharmacy billing procedures have changed and they are therefore requesting Veteran credit card numbers for prescription payments in advance of filling their prescriptions.  This is false.  VA does not call Veterans asking to disclose personal financial information over the phone.  VA has not changed its processes for dispensing prescription medicines.

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1.      Shinseki Appears Before Students To Support Obama’s Education Message.   The Honolulu Advertiser (9/8, 135K) reports, "Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki today visited Meade High School" in Maryland "to challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning." The Secretary said he was there "to support President Obama’s important message of hope for you and our country," and "encouraged the students to consider a path of volunteerism, noting that more than 20,000 young volunteers give their time to more than 160 Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation."
      In an article on Obama’s speech, the Chicago Tribune (9/9, Bowie, 498K) writes, "Shinseki’s talk largely borrowed from Obama’s points of staying in school, taking charge of your education and volunteering, with the secretary sprinkling his text with personal stories from his time growing up in Hawaii." He mentioned that his parents "both dropped out of school to get jobs, but later ‘regretted it.’" The Tribune adds, "the students gave Shinseki a standing ovation."

2.      New Post-Deployment Clinic Opens In Houston.   The Houston Chronicle (9/9, Wise, 449K) reports, "On Tuesday the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center on Holcombe Boulevard opened a new post-deployment clinic for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." The clinic provides "a ‘one-stop shop’ where returning veterans…can walk in for free psychological and physical health screenings" or "meet with patient advocates and social workers or seek advice and information about VA benefits and community resources." According to the clinic’s staff, "they hope the streamlined process will encourage more veterans to seek help during the often-rocky transition from the combat zone to civilian life." 

3.      Support Group For Families Of Vets Returning To Civilian Life Offered In Washington.   The Pullman (WA) Daily Evergreen (9/9, Horlen) reports that, in partnership with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Program and the Spokane VA Medical Center, the WSU Psychology Clinic "will offer a free, weekly family support group beginning Sept. 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Johnson Tower, room 365," which "will focus on the transition a soldier faces while returning to civilian life." ASWSU Veterans Affairs Committee Public Affairs Officer Christopher Siders said that should "the group generates enough interest and positive feedback, another group will be put on in the spring that focuses on veterans themselves."

 4.      Defense Department Developing Network To Address Vets’ Needs.   The Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat (9/9, Griffith) reports that Defense Department medical leaders at the Rural Telehealth and Advanced Technologies Conference said that "Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Centers – Johnstown and Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas at St. Francis University in Loretto are part of a growing system dedicated to caring for the injured and those with psychological issues." The paper adds that the two programs "are being used in development of a national matrix of health care and support for military personnel who served in combat." While "the network is being developed to address service-related medical needs of all returning personnel, it will center on traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological conditions." 

5.      VA Care Lauded.   In his column in the Huffington Post (9/8), Richad Allen, editor of the VoteVets.org blog VetVoice, writes about his positive experiences with public healthcare. One aspect of this is how after his divorce, Allen realized he would lose his health insurance and "decided to explore the options the Veterans’ Health Administration had to offer." He "discovered was that I am actually entitled to fairly comprehensive health care in addition to any service connected conditions I have." While Allen’s "a great employer…offers a health plan," Allen writes, "I honestly haven’t taken advantage of it yet because I haven’t had any trouble with my health care from the VA."  

6.      Researchers Developing Virtual Environment To Help Veterans With PTSD, TBI.   Medscape (9/8, Brauser) reported that, according to a study presented at the Military Health Research Forum 2009, "a virtual world environment (VWE) currently in development may help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) better adjust to and cope with the challenges of civilian life." Researchers from North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System at Gainesville "introduced a VWE set in a seemingly mundane supermarket scenario to assist veterans in acclimating to daily tasks such as decision-making, money management, and even conflict resolution. The veteran and therapist can log on from different locations, and avatars representing the two individuals allow them to interact within the virtual setting." Lead investigator Charles E. Levy, MD, explained that the VWE will "allow the veteran and therapist to confront and overcome barriers that block successful social reintegration."  

7.      HUD Announces Funding For Homeless Vets In New York.   The East Hampton (NY) Press (9/9) reports, "The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it will provide the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal with more than $1.4 million in additional funding for a homeless veterans housing and clinical services program this year." The article, based on a press release issued last month, adds that HUD’s
Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program "is a relatively new program which combines HUD Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance for homeless veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs."  

8.      VA Expected To Hire Tens Of Thousands In Coming Years.   Forbes (9/8, Adams, 920K) writes that a report released last week by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service says "a golden age of work for the government is just now dawning" due to "cyclical turnover; fresh demand in areas such as homeland security and veterans affairs, driven by the post-9/11 terrorist threat and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the financial crisis, with the stimulus spending it has spurred." The report estimates that, "by the fall of 2012…the federal government will have hired 273,000 new workers for jobs the group calls ‘mission critical.’" Of these, due to the number of "soldiers returning from foreign wars, the Department of Veterans Affairs will be the most active employer, hiring 25,000 nurses and 8,500 doctors by 2012." 

9.      Resolution Honors Wheelchair Games Vet.   North Carolina’s The Robesonian (9/8) noted that on Tuesday, members of the Robeson County Board of Commissioners planned "to pass a resolution Tuesday honoring Welton Locklear of the All Heart Tornadoes wheelchair basketball team." Locklear, a veteran, "has competed in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, winning medals in basketball, softball, javelin and discus." 

10.    Florida Mother Reflects On Anniversary Of Son’s Death At Local VA Cemetery.   WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL (9/9, Malloy) reports on a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the death of Lt. Bart Fletcher, a 1st Cavalry officer who was killed by another soldier "who had snapped" at Fort Hood. "At his VA graveside [in Lake Worth, Florida] Tuesday, Ginny Luther looked back on the past year to talk about her loss. … Now Luther is meeting as many mothers of fallen soldiers as she can, offering comfort and sharing her story."