Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA

Oncology Nurse Cathy Stinnett at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee , Okla. , feels a passion for what she does and gets a lot of fulfillment from being there to help patients and family members through some of their most trying times. In May, Oncology Nurse Month, Stinnet was featured in a Tulsa World newspaper article about her job and the work she does daily to help patients deal with the serious challenges of cancer. “I have been a nurse for 25 years,” said Stinnet. “But I found the most rewarding part of my career when I specialized in oncology. We give the patients all the love and care we can and we treat the families just like we do them.” Vietnam Veteran Tom Whitesell agreed. “This is a tremendous group here. I don’t think they get near enough thanks for what they do,” he said from his treatment chair. “They’re more like family.” Along with technical expertise, a lot of TLC is involved with being an oncology nurse, as well as being supportive to patients through a range of emotions — denial, anger or acceptance.

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Curbing military suicides I had a lovely Memorial Day. I hope you did, too. I, like you, thought about our veterans, past and present. I thought about how much I love and respect them for the sacrifices they made for me, and the toll that commitment takes on them. See, at an alarming rate — and in part because of what we put them through — many more of our soldiers are killing themselves. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, speaking at a suicide prevention conference in January, reminded us, “Of the 30,000 suicides in the country each year, fully 20 percent of them are acts by veterans. That means that on average 18 veterans commit suicide each day.”
2. Mil Health IT: Port of call, Hampton Roads In Hampton Roads, Va., the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are staging the most far-reaching military health information mash-up ever attempted. Taking place in southeastern Virginia’s Tidewater region, an area with a dense concentration of military personnel, the project will bring together defense and veterans medical centers, as well as local providers Sentara Healthcare, Riverside Health System and Bon Secours Medical Group in an unprecedented test of health information-sharing across the military-civilian divide.
3. Black Men at Greater Risk of Aggressive Prostate Tumors: Study Black men are already known to be at higher risk of developing prostate cancer than white men, but now a new study reports that they also appear to be more likely to develop aggressive forms of the disease. Researchers analyzed biopsies from 131 men — 67 blacks and 64 whites — whose prostates were removed at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Carolina. The investigators found signs that the black men had more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
4. Veterans groups putting faces to the names Angel Fire, New Mexico – The mission that Vietnam Vet Henry Urisote took on in January has been a heavy one. It has forced him to relive trying times that continue to haunt him. It has at times caused others to recall painful memories that have been long buried. And it has possibly served to help face those feelings of loss and remorse and hopefully overcome them. Urioste, along with members of the Northern New Mexico chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America and other like-minded organizations across the country are collecting photographs of the over 50,000 Americans who were killed in action during the Vietnam Conflict.
5. Dept. of Veterans Affairs: Change in care charges at Wisconsin veterans homes Madison, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) yesterday (June 1, 2010) informed members of the Wisconsin Veterans Homes at King and Union Grove that, beginning next month, rates will increase for skilled nursing care. Members were sent letters informing them that effective July 1st, their rate for care will be adjusted. The homes must adjust care rates to cover increased cost of operations. Rates calculations are reviewed twice each year, determining private pay rates.
6. Veteran Hiring Initiative Earns “Finalist” Recognition for Volt Workforce Solutions Orange, California – Volt Workforce Solutions, the staffing business unit of Volt Information Sciences, Inc.  announced that it has been named a “Finalist” in The 2010 American Business Awards. Volt’s veteran hiring initiative, the Volt Military Heroes Program, earned recognition in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year for firms with more than 2,500 employees.
7. Deep Brain Stimulation Works in Two Sites for Parkinson’s Disease People suffering from Parkinson’s disease can benefit from deep brain stimulation in either one of two sites in the brain, a new study finds. The Veterans Affairs researchers compared two different targets in the brain for deep brain stimulation — the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the globus pallidus interna (GPi) — both of which affect motor function. The procedure involves placing a fine wire into either of the two areas, after which an implanted battery delivers a finely tuned electrical current to stimulate the brain, often resulting in dramatic improvement in motor function.
8. New veterans clinic aims to expand care When Coast Guard veteran and Waterville resident Daniel Cannode needs medical care, he is sometimes forced to travel to Ann Arbor because Toledo’s outpatient clinic for veterans does not offer certain specialty services. But now that the clinic is being replaced and expanded, Mr. Cannode, 62, a Purple Heart recipient for his service in the Vietnam War, said he looks forward to better care closer to home.
9. Harris wins sub-contract for migration of Veterans Health Administration to HIPAA standards Communications and information technology company Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS | PowerRating) has been awarded an eight-month contract to support the Veterans Health Administration’s migration to updated standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
10. American College of Education Partners With the Department of Veterans Affairs Chicago, Illinois – Veterans who have chosen to serve this country again in America’s classrooms are now assured access to online accredited affordable master’s degrees in education and online programs that can be fully reimbursed by the Post 9-11 GI Bill. American College of Education has been designated a Yellow Ribbon school by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Yellow Ribbon program was created with the new GI Bill to reduce higher education costs for veterans.