Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

1.      Paying New Agent Orange Claims A “Lengthy And Complex” Process For VA. In continuing coverage, syndicated “Military Update” columnist Tom Philpott writes in Stars And Stripes (11/5), “Many Vietnam veterans with ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease or B-cell leukemia expected” Veterans Affairs “compensation for their illnesses to begin soon after a 60-day congressional review period ended Oct. 30. Though the first batch of payments went out this week, the relatively small number – about 1300 claims worth $8 million – reinforced the fact that the process for calculating retroactive payments is lengthy and complex.” After noting that VA’s “goal is to have all these claims processed and paid by October next year,” Philpott adds, “More than 1,000 claim specialists in nine VA resource centers are working on 93,000 claims filed” for the three aforementioned “diseases between Sept. 25, 1985 and Oct. 13, 2009,” when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki “announced his decision to add these diseases to the list of presumptive diseases for Agent Orange exposure.”
     VA Projecting 200,000 More Vets May Qualify For Assistance With Expanded Benefits. The WJXX-TV Jacksonville, FL (11/4) website also took note of VA’s expanded Agent Orange benefits, saying VA “projects that by adding three more diseases, 200,000 more veterans may qualify for assistance.”

 2.      Alabama VA To Break Ground On News Vets Home. The Talladega (AL) Daily Home (11/4, Atchison, 10K) reports, “The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs has scheduled a special ground-breaking ceremony for its new $50 million Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home. Bob Horton, the public information officer” for the Alabama VA, “said Wednesday there is a special groundbreaking ceremony slated for the new veterans home at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 30. Horton said VA will hold the ceremony…on the Jefferson State Community College campus in Pell City.”

 3.      Utah VA Co-Sponsoring Vets Job Fair. The Salt Lake (UT) Tribune (11/5) reports, “A free job fair for Utah military veterans will be held from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the South Towne Expo Center, 9575 S. State St.” in Sandy, Utah. The event is “co-sponsored by the Utah Department of Workforce Services, Utah Department of Veterans Affairs,” and the US Department of Labor.

 4.      Fiscal 2011 MilCon-VA Spending Bill One Of Two That Have Advanced To House Floor. After noting that Tuesday’s overall “GOP election victory leaves House Republicans with a critical personnel question – who to put in charge of delivering on their promises to cut government spending as chairman of the Appropriations Committee,” CQ (11/4, Young) reports, “Only two of the 12 regular spending bills for fiscal 2011 have advanced to the floor: the measure that funds the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction (HR 5822) and the bill that funds the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments (HR 5850).” CQ went on to say that one of “two senior Republican appropriators” who “will retire at the end of this session” is “Zach Wamp of Tennessee, the ranking member on the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs subcommittee.” On the Democratic side, meanwhile, “Chet Edwards of Texas, who leads the Military Construction-VA panel,” was “defeated Tuesday night.”

 5.      Army Launches Another Arlington National Cemetery Investigation. The Washington Post (11/5, B4, Davenport, 605K) reports, “The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command has launched another investigation into Arlington National Cemetery, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.” While Christopher Grey “would not discuss the focus of the probe,” he “said it was prompted after Kathryn Condon, executive director of the Army Cemeteries Program, ‘recently became aware of questionable practices that took place’ at Arlington. This would be at least the third criminal investigation into the cemetery in recent years; none has yet resulted in criminal charges.”

 6.      VA Awards Healthcare IT Contract To QuadraMed. In continuing coverage, Modern Healthcare (11/4, Robeznieks, 72K) said the Veterans Affairs Department “has awarded a five-year, $211 million contract to Reston, Va.-based healthcare information technology vendor QuadraMed for the purpose of implementing the company’s coding and compliance program, Quantim. The VA has been using Quantim programs since 2005 at 150 medical centers, according to a QuadraMed news release announcing the contract.” Modern Healthcare added, “Last December, the VA renewed a $24 million contract with QuadraMed to license the company’s Encoder Product Suite, referred to as EPS, for revenue-cycle management and other functions.” Healthcare IT News (11/5, Miliard, 54K) also takes note of VA’s contract award.

7.      VA Leases More Space In DC’s NoMa Neighborhood. According to its “BizBeat” blog for the District of Columbia-based Washington Business Journal (11/5, Plumb), the US Department of Veterans Affairs has “executed a pair” of 10-year “leases totaling 122,756 square feet at 1100 First St. NE,” in the NoMa neighborhood, which is named for its north of Massachusetts Avenue location. After noting that VA’s new leases at the “347,600-square-foot NoMa building kick in next July,” the Journal adds, “VA has already established its presence in NoMa, committing to 35,000 square feet in spring 2009 at One NoMa Station at 131 M St. NE.”

 8.      Massachusetts Company To Build Renewable Energy Project For VA. The Boston Globe (11/5, 253K) reports, “Ameresco Inc., a Framingham company specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, said that the US Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded it a contract to design and build a solar photovoltaic system” for a VA hospital “in Salt Lake City. The renewable energy asset project with costs is valued at more than $6.6 million, Ameresco said in a press release,” which noted that the project is expected to take 10 months to complete.

 9.      Canandaigua VAMC To Host Veterans Day Event. The Greece (NY) Messenger Post (11/5, Sherwood) reports, “On Nov. 11, Veterans Day,” the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center will “hold a Veterans Day Observance/Missing Man Ceremony.” The event, which “will be held in Building 5 auditorium at the VA, 400 Fort Hill Ave.,” is “sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The public is invited to attend.”
     WWII Vet To Serve As Grand Marshall At Ralph H. Johnson VAMC Parade. The WCSC-TV Charleston, SC (11/4) website said the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center will “hold a parade to honor Veterans in the Market area of downtown Charleston on Sunday, November 7.” The “Grand Marshall for the event is Lee Hunt, a World War II vet who survived a Japanese kamikaze attack on the USS Laffey.”
     Chillicothe VAMC Will Also Host Parade. The Chillicothe (OH) Gazette (11/5, 12K) says an “annual Veterans Day parade and affiliated activities…will take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Chillicothe VA Medical Center.” The day will be “sponsored by the Ross County Veterans Council.”
     St. Cloud VAMC Co-Sponsoring Another Parade In Honor Of Veterans. The St. Cloud (MN) Times (11/5, Calloway) reports, “Veterans will be honored Sunday when more than 40 units line up for St. Cloud’s fourth annual Veterans Day parade,” which “starts at 1 p.m. at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center.” According to the Times, the St. Cloud VAMC is one of the parade’s sponsors.
     VA Hospital To Participate In Town’s Veterans Day Observance. Leesburg (VA) Today (11/5, 60K) notes that US Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) will “headline the Town of Leesburg’s annual Veterans Day observance Thursday, Nov. 11, at the George C. Marshall International Center at Dodona Manor. This year’s” observance will “pay special tribute to veterans of the Vietnam War. Participating organizations include” the VA hospital “of Martinsburg WV.”

 10.    WWII Vet Blames VA For Delay In Receiving Medication. The WPRI-TV Providence, RI (11/4) website notes that 83-year-old World War II veteran Ed Ladoucuer “says he’s been without the medication his doctor prescribed since August. While Ladoucuer blames a Veterans Affairs hospital for the delay in receiving the breathing assistance medication,” the VA “said that whenever they work with patients who are being seen by more than one outside provider, issues like this do come up. That’s why…VA,” which has now given Ladoucuer his medicine, “says it’s working on improving communications with all parties involved to provide the best care to…veterans.”