VA HQ Veterans News for Monday, August 8, 2011.  Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ!

1.    Long way from care.  The Register-Guard  The number of trips local vets have made to Roseburg to get health care is up 19 percent since 2008, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. “It's an obvious thing to all that it's needed,” Tina Corey said of the planned medical center in ...

2.    Dayton VA investigated more than any other veterans' hospitals.  Dayton Daily News
Sherrod Brown questioned members of the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Since 2006, the Dayton VA Medical Center has conducted more in-depth ...

3.    VA, HUD Team Up to Fight Veteran Homelessness.  Patch.com  Recipients within the Tar Heel State include the the city housing authorities of Charlotte, Asheville, Greensboro, Durham, Wake and the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Agency. This funding comes as part of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program ...

4.    White House launches program to help jobless veterans.  NOLA.com  "One of the most significant obstacles to understanding veteran suicide is the lack of information available regarding these individuals," Murray and three other senators said in their letter. "In many cases, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not ...

5.    Quinn selects former Petraeus aide to head Veterans' Affairs.  Chicago Sun-Times
Army veteran Erica Borggren has been nominated to run the state's Department of Veterans' Affairs by Gov. Quinn. The two are here at a news conference Friday. | John H. White~Sun-Times A former aide to Gen. ...

6.    300 Montana veterans wait for orthopedic surgery as VA tries to recruit surgeon.  Billings Gazette  To receive surgery, Montana veterans without private insurance must travel out of state for care or pay for it out of their pockets. To compound this problem, Montana veterans are being told that the VA facilities in Denver and Salt Lake City are too ...

7.    Hayworth Rallies Support for Bill to Save VA Hospitals from Developers.  Patch.com
Following Hayworth at the podium was Karl Rohde, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and director of veterans affairs for Putnam County. Rohde, nicknamed "Mr. Veteran," likened the leasing of the VA hospital to putting sponsor names such as NASCAR on ...

8.    Helicopter Shot Down In Afghanistan Carried Some Of America's Most Elite Forces. New York Times "The Taliban...could hardly have found a more valuable target: American officials said that 22 of the dead were Navy Seal commandos, including members of Seal Team 6," although "those who were killed Saturday were not involved in the Pakistan mission."  McClatchy The troops killed in the attack "were fighting a war rarely talked about. ... Every night, scores of helicopters like the blasted Chinook leave bases and land amidst Taliban strongholds in remote areas, chasing local Taliban or terrorist leaders. Their activities rarely get reported, even when they are successful, with the notable exception of the May killing of al Qeada leader Osama bin Laden." Washington Post "as US troops have pushed the Taliban from havens in the south, the insurgents have retaliated in recent weeks with high-profile attacks and assassinations of Afghan officials. The incidents have challenged US assertions that the military is making steady progress in preparation for turning control of the country over to its Afghan partners."  AP (8/7), "Special operations forces, including the SEALs and others, have been at the forefront in the stepped up strategy of taking out key insurgent leaders in targeted raids, and they will be relied on even more as regular troops pull out." The downing of the helicopter is "likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul."

9.    Borggren Nomination To Head Illinois DVA Noted.  WGN-TV   Nomination of Army captain Erica Borggren, a former aide to Gen. David Petraeus, to be director of the Illinois Office of Veterans Affairs Chicago, IL

10.                 PTSD Coach App Highlighted. WXYZ-TV  A Navy veteran of Iraq combat with PTSD and two VA psychologists -- Drs. Sonja Batten and Andy Santanello -- are featured in a segment on the VA-developed PTSD Coach, a free app that lets users track and manage their symptoms and find support. The segment notes that the app has been "downloaded 14,000 times in 41 countries."

11.                 End-Of-Life Talks Key For HF Patients. MedPageToday A study by Dr. Sarah Goodlin of the Portland VAMC and colleagues discuss end-of-life issues that cardiologists should be prepared to discuss in counseling patients with advanced heart failure.

12.                 Project Healing Waters Uses Fishing As PTSD Therapy. WNLO-TV  VA "has launched Project Healing Waters. The program assists vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, they learned how to fly fish." A local American Legion post provides financial support for the local program.

13.                 Family Caregiver Program For Injured Vets. UPIVeterans "may be eligible for a family caregiver program if they are medically discharged for a serious injury, officials say. Dr. Robert Petzel, Department of Veterans Affairs under secretary for health, says US law, for the first time, provides a direct benefit to designated, approved family caregivers of eligible post-Sept. 11, 2001, veterans, including monthly stipends and health insurance." The article notes that almost 1,650 applications had been received as of July 26, and 567 stipends averaging $1,600 monthly had been approved.

14.                 Transitional Housing Facility For Veterans In Jeopardy. Gainesville Sun The Alachua County Housing Authority's planned transitional housing facility for homeless veterans "is in limbo." The ACHA board members heard last week that it has not yet gotten a response from the VA on its request for a second extension of a deadline to take ownership of the foreclosed hotel where the facility is planned. In an interview, the ACHA executive director said, "If the VA doesn't extend the deadline, it's over;" the VA had earlier approved a $1.9 million grant and a 20-year agreement to provide ACHA with operating funds for the facility. The authority wants the extension because it hasn't yet finalized the purchase of the hotel, intended to be transitional housing for up to 112 veterans. Members of the ACHA board say they will drop the long-planned project if unable to make progress on the extension and the purchase by their August meeting.

15.                 False Government Death Reports Leave People In The Lurch. Chicago Sun-TimesHardships faced by the estimated 14,000 persons who each year are erroneously reported as dead by the Social Security Administration. One Chicago man, Jeffrey Zych said that he "had to go through a whole ordeal. I had to get doctors, the VA (Veterans Administration) and other people to say I was alive." The Vietnam veteran, looking into an undelivered Social Security disability check, was informed by the SSA that he was listed as dead. He then received a letter from the VA, stating that his VA payments were due to stop since the SSA had informed them of his demise, "but the VA gave him 90 days to clear up the matter. He did so, but only by providing a parade of documentation. If his VA benefits checks had stopped coming, too, he would have lost his house, Zych said."

16.                 Bill Combats Shrinking Of Veterans' Services. Times Herald-Record  "Veterans gathered Friday to support a bill by Rep. Nan Hayworth to stop the government from leasing land and empty buildings to private developers at one of two medical campuses serving vets in the Hudson Valley. They're fighting plans by the Department of Veterans Affairs to consolidate services at the 184-acre Montrose complex in northern Westchester County onto 12 acres and invite developers to lease 160 of the remaining acres, including 780,000 square feet of building space." The veterans say that mounting cases of PTSD and TBI from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan mean that the government will need to expand, not contract, services, and that obtaining help at local facilities is more convenient than traveling to the Albany VAMC.

17.                 VA Health Network Named Among 'Most Wired' Hospitals.  AnnArbor.com The operator of the Ann Arbor VAMC "was recently named one of the country's most wired hospitals and health systems," according to Hospitals and Health Networks magazine, an American Hospital Association publication. Its annual survey of how hospitals use IT systems for customer service, public health and workforce and safety issues found that 67 percent of the "most wired" hospitals order medications electronically, while 22 percent offer patients the chance to make a "virtual" visit to a physician.

18.                 Martinsburg VA Medical Center Plans Volunteer Orientation Sessions.  Waynesboro (PA) Herald Record The Martinsburg VAMC "is in need of volunteers and has scheduled two upcoming volunteer orientation days." The facility is looking for greeters, van drivers, patient assistance and help with clerical and administrative duties.

19.                 Clark County Korean War Veterans Honored By South Korea For Service. The Oregonian 121 Korean War veterans from Clark County were "honored Saturday at LeRoy Haagen Memorial Community Park with Medals of Honor from the South Korean government." For many, the "Korean War Veteran" medal hanging from a multi-colored ribbon "was the first award they received for their service six decades ago."

20.                 Donate Your Reusable Shopping Bags To Help Homeless Female Veterans. Daily Leicester (MA)  "In an effort to help send package care items to homeless female veterans in the Massachusetts Stand Down, Project New Hope out of Leicester is in requesting donations of reusable shopping bags" to package care items for veterans attending the counseling, coaching and benefit education event.

21.                 TLC Letters, Indian River County, Aug. 7. A World War II veteran Marine's letter to the Treasure Coast Palm  "I visit a place where there are no strangers. It is called West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. I am transported there and back to Vero Beach through the auspices of the Veterans Council of Indian River County." He thanks American Legion #39 bikers and the American Legion Auxiliary #189 for raising funds for a new bus for the Veterans Council.

22.                 D.C. To Retailers: Some Day This Will All Be Yours.  Washington (DC) Examiner Even though businesses won't be able to move into the soon-to-be-closed Walter Reed Medical Center campus for two years, on Friday morning, Washington, DC officials "gave a tour of the 113-acre campus to a dozen interested national retailers and their brokers." A news release said that the tour "was scheduled in response to the resounding interest of the site at the Las Vegas ICSC conference this past May" and that the city will submit a reuse plan for federal authorities next spring, then "move immediately to selection of a development team."

23.                 Afghanistan Amputees Are Nominated To Carry The Olympic Flame. Mirror (UK) In England, former Royal Marine and paratroopers who lost limbs in the Afghanistan war are seeking to become torch bearers for the 2012 Olympic Games. A 70-day flame relay will tour Britain from May 18 to July 27; the first names of the 8,000 torch bearers will be announced Wednesday.

24.                 Marines Surveyed Because Of Contaminated Water. Canandaigua (NY) Daily Messenger  The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry "is in the midst of largest health survey it has ever conducted -- and one of the largest surveys of its kind in the US. From now through December, more than 300,000 Marines and civilians who lived or worked at Marine Corps Camps Lejeune and Pendleton before 1986 will receive a detailed survey asking questions about health conditions possibly related to contaminants." The survey's focus is on exposure to harmful chemicals in the water at Camp Lejeune, but Camp Pendleton workers and residents are being surveyed for comparison purposes.