Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1.    Highly Functioning Schizophrenics.  UC Los Angeles  The New York Times reported Saturday on an ongoing study by researchers from UCLA, the University of Southern California and the US Department of Veterans Affairs following 20 schizophrenic patients who live full, successful lives in the public eye.
2.    HIV Testing in the US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009-2010.  Archives of Internal Medicine  The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the nation’s largest single provider of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care. Veterans with HIV infection in VA care receive HIV care at all 152 VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) and throughout all 21 of the …
3.    VA Awards $55 Million Contract For Surgical Workflow.  InformationWeek  Information Week IT firm Harris Corp. has won a five-year, $54.9 million contract from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to integrate a commercial surgical workflow management system into the VA’s massive health IT infrastructure. …
4.    Budget cuts won’t come at expense of U.S. power in Pacific, Panetta says.  The Pentagon will slash more than $450 billion in spending over a decade, but the cuts aren’t coming at the expense of U.S. power in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told U.S. and Japanese troops Monday at Yokota Air Base.
5.    Letter: Honoring our troops and veterans.  Naples Daily News  Of the approximately 300000 veterans from Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom who have accessed care through the US Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 40 percent are reporting mental health concerns. Veterans with mental health conditions …
6.    Veteran receives diploma through Operation Recognition.  Evening Observer  Operation Recognition was created under Section 305 of the New York State Education Law to honor veterans and was available through the New York State Division of Veteran’s Affairs. Operation Recognition unfortunately came to an end this summer, …
7.    Centralia World War II Veteran Name’s Illinois’ Veteran Of The Month For October.  WJBD Online  The award will be presented by the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Erica Borggren. Congressman John Shimkus, State Senator John O. Jones, State Representative John Cavaletto, Centralia Mayor Tom Ashby, Marion County Board …
8.    Harnessing the drive to help.  Omaha World-Herald  Conway is a 78-year-old Army veteran with emphysema, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis who spends up to two days a week shuttling back and forth to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Omaha. But not as a patient. Conway is a driver. …
9.    Donations needed for ‘Hope for Homeless Veterans’ drive.  9NEWS.com  This event is organized by the US Department of Veterans Affairs Denver Regional Office. Stand Down is a military term that means a temporary stop of offensive military action. Homeless Veteran Stand Downs are designed to…
10.   Bidding Wars Heat Up At VA Under New Chief Buyer’s Centralized Strategy.  Washington Post  Retired Army Col. Jan Frye “says he loves a mission, and he’s passionate about this one: squeezing savings from the $16 billion a year the Department of Veterans Affairs spends on contracts.” Since becoming the agency’s “deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics in 2005, Frye, 61, has moved to centralize the operation, which purchases products and services as varied as artificial limbs, information technology and urinary drainage bags.” The Post adds, “The approach has drawn criticism from some who say patient care may suffer if there are fewer products to choose from, and from others who say centralized purchasing can reduce innovation and, in the long run, drive up prices.” The Post added that the approach has also led to lawsuits filed by bidders who have not gotten long-term deals.

More Veteran News

• Efforts To Assist Homeless LA Vets Defended By VA Official. CNN Presents Iraq veteran Robert Rissman, who has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was one of “more than 8,000 homeless veterans” living in Los Angeles. CNN, which noted that Rissman is now in a transitional housing program, said Veterans Affairs owns a plot of LA land “that was donated, for free, just to build a home for vets.” CNN pointed out that a lawsuit has been filed against VA to force the agency into using the land to shelter homeless vets. CNN discussed the situation with Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff of Los Angeles’ VA health care system, who said he cannot comment on the lawsuit. Norman defended VA’s effort to assist homeless vets, though, stating, “We’ve added 700 emergency housing and transitional housing beds. They have mental health programs, substance abuse programs and medical programs.” CNN also took note of the fact that VA has given out 2,000 rent vouchers to homeless vets in LA.

•  More Women Falling Into Ranks Of Homeless Veterans.  Los Angeles Times  “Women make up a growing number of homeless veterans, a group usually associated with combat-hardened men unable to cope with civilian life. Homelessness among female veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has increased every year for the last six years – from 150 in 2006 to 1,700 this year – according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The Times points out that the agency, which “has made ending homelessness a priority,” offers a “range of benefits” to homeless vets.

•  VA Continually Reaching Out To The Woman Veteran. Keene (NH) Sentinel Veterans Affairs is “continually reaching out to the woman veteran. The VA offers a full continuum of comprehensive health care, including health promotion and disease prevention, primary care, women’s gender-specific health care – hormone replacement therapy, breast and gynecological care, maternity and limited infertility (excluding in vitro fertilization) – acute medical/surgical care, telephone, emergency and substance abuse treatment, mental health, homebound, rehabilitation, and long-term care.” In addition, VA “researchers at many VA facilities…conduct medical research on women’s health.”

•   Returning Women Vets Face Harder Time Finding Work.  McClatchy  “On average, male veterans in the post-9/11 era are more likely than their female counterparts to find work, to collect higher salaries when they’re hired and, according to some national estimates, to avoid homelessness.” Such “trends trouble experts and veterans’ advocates.”

• Tomah VA Shows Off Mobile Unit.  La Crosse (WI) Tribune The Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center has “debuted a new mobile treatment unit this week that can become a fully functioning 45-bed hospital in less than six hours.” Tomah VA Emergency Management Specialist Stephen Amling “said the system, which cost a little more than $1 million, was purchased to meet the VA’s increased emergency management mission. Although intended for local use, it may also be deployed at disasters in other parts of the country.”

• False Claims Of Military Valor Illegal? High Court To Rule. Sacramento (CA) Bee

•    Marine Corps Wants Nation To Honor First Black Marines; Story To Be Taught In Basic Training.  AP  “Nearly 70 years after” the US Marine Corps became the “last military branch to accept blacks under orders from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, Congress will vote Tuesday on whether to grant the Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.” The Marines’ current commandant, Gen. James Amos, “has made diversifying the staunchly traditional branch a top priority.” The “Marine Corps also plans to teach all Marines next year about Montford Point, the base near the coastal town of Jacksonville, N.C., that the Corps set up for blacks to keep them separate from white Marines.”

•    Isle Military Paid Huge Price Before Iraq War’s End. Honolulu Star-Advertiser

•  Last Of The Original Navajo Code Talkers Looks Back On A Full Life. Stars And Stripes