VA HQ Veterans News for Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ
1. New system aims to reduce VA disability backlog. Asbury Park Press undefined The US Department of Veterans Affairs is installing a computer system that should help reduce a huge backlog of disability claims from wounded soldiers, but it's impossible to say when the problem will be cleared up, the agency's ...
2. Deptford Mall Hosting Veterans Outreach. Patch.com Men and women who have served in the military can find out about their benefits from the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. By Patch Staff If you're a military veteran, finding out about your benefits and entitlements will be as easy as ...
3. Wheelchair champion. Jackson County Floridan The games are sponsored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Henderson is classified as a quadriplegic, although he does have limited use of both arms. He wheeled himself to victory this year in the 200-yard ...
4. Event helps Fort Collins-area veterans transition back to civilian life. The Coloradoan
Veach and his girlfriend, Jennifer Maple, 21, attended a "Welcome Home Event" in Wellington that was hosted by the Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Saturday. The event occurred at Harvest Farm, a rural, outdoor setting with a corn maze, ...
5. More housing suggested at Togus medical center. Kennebec Journal -- The US Department of Veterans' Affairs has suggested adding housing at Maine VA Medical Center to accommodate families of patients receiving care. Maine VA Medical Center, formerly known as Togus VA Medical Center, was among the sites ...
6. Steinberg: County veterans offices staffing 'woefully inadequate'. Willits News According to a letter from the state veterans office, in fiscal year 2009/10, Stenberg's office obtained more than $2 million in new annual cash benefits and nearly $1.7 million in one-time benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs for local ...
7. Navy Vets charity officials scrambled under scrutiny, documents show. Tampabay.com
A spokeswoman for the Florida Attorney General's Office said it had no control over the timing of the raid, which included criminal investigators from the IRS, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ...
8. $1 Million for San Joaquin Valley veteran families. Central Valley Business Times The homelessness prevention grant was awarded through the US Department of Veterans Affairs' Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program.. “Just one veteran falling asleep at night without a permanent roof over his or her head is one veteran too ...
9. P1 Photo of the Week: Talk about speeding. Police News Assistant Chief Justin K. Flynn of the US Dept. of Veteran Affairs Police sent us this photo. When NASCAR driver Tony Stewart came to town to participate in the department's Veteran's Day Parade, Flynn undefined naturally undefined went to check out the car and ...
10.Veterans home groundbreaking set. St. George Daily Spectrum Stay and Ivins Mayor Chris Hart said they received an email Wednesday from the state VA deputy director who is leading the project, granting approval to continue forward at a quick pace. "There were a number of hoops that had to be jumped through," ...
11.Water is only remaining hurdle for area veterans' cemetery. Colorado Springs Gazette
Once water negotiations are finalized between the county, the state and the federal government, the land will be handed over to the VA. The cemetery is slated to open in 2014, and Muro said he wants construction to begin as soon as possible. ...
12.VA Boston Stand Down 2011: Treating Invisible Wounds. United States Department of Veterans Affairs ... Each year, for the past 20 years, VA Boston Healthcare System, in conjunction with local, state, federal and ...
- Push Begins For A Special Veterans Court. Coos Bay (OR) World Some local veterans "have begun a quiet push to establish a veterans court in Coos County." Staff Sgt. Eddie Black, who is part of the Army's reintegration team, "tours Oregon, talking with local authorities about coping with veterans' difficulties in readjusting to civilian life." He says that "hypervigilance and aggressive reactions don't go away just because a soldier comes home," one reason "why soldiers sometimes react aggressively to everyday situations." The "veterans court would recognize when a combat veteran is acting out because of combat-related trauma" and "would require traumatized veterans to undergo rigorous treatment."
- Special Court Will Offer Lenient Sentences To Veterans. KIRO-FM "The Seattle Municipal Court will launch Veterans Court on September 20." It will hear misdemeanor crimes "committed due to psychological or substance abuse issues that resulted from" veterans' service to the country. While veterans could get more lenient sentences for "crimes such as misdemeanor assault, harassment, weapons offenses, and DUI," Seattle Assistant City Attorney Supervisor Jennifer Grant "said they will face much stricter supervision than typical defendants," including "frequent reviews, checking in with probation, cases management, [and] maintaining sobriety."
15.Money Shortage Postpones Michigan Housing Development For Homeless Veterans. WPBN-TV "A money shortage has pushed back the opening date for the areas first veterans transitional housing, a four-duplex community development in Gaylord. ... It's a sad reality: Six-hundred veterans in Northern Michigan, homeless." Goodwill Industries spokesperson Leah Bagdon McCollum was shown saying, "We're hoping to be open [in Gaylord] later this fall. We have some approvals to go through from the VA and we still have about $300,000 left to raise to meet our goal." WPBN added, "More than $1-million in grant money has already been awarded to the project but there is still a ways to go. On September 10, Goodwill is teaming up with the US Air force and hosting a benefit concert. ... And every single penny is going directly to the veterans housing project,'" said Beau A Vore, Staff Sergeant USAF.
16.California Interagency Council On Veterans Seeks Government, Lake County (CA) News "California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) is seeking partners to help the California Interagency Council (the Council) on veterans improve the coordination of veterans services across governmental and private sectors." The council is charges with "identifying and prioritizing the needs of California's veterans and to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in addressing those needs. ... 'The first and immediate step is to organize this council's membership and it's community partners,'" said CalVet Secretary Peter Gravett. The County News noted that "Executive Order B-9-11" directed the "Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs to establish the Council and work to immediately prioritize the needs of California's 2-million veterans."
17.Organization Finds Jobs For SWFL Military Vets. WZVN-TV "Tens of thousands of military veterans from every branch call Southwest Florida home. And many of them are out of work with some of their benefits frozen." However, a "new non-profit organization, Invest in America's Veteran's Foundation," is helping. The idea is to match unemployed veterans with employers "who would like to help us out and hire vets," explained foundation member Craig Blume. The foundation also wants to "turn the old Sweetbay at 4820 Leonard Street in Cape Coral into a museum, library and school that would feature four areas of study for veterans, from culinary arts to nursing."
18.Outreach Boosts Hiring Of Texas Vets. Houston Chronicle "A comprehensive jobs outreach effort led by the Texas Veterans Commission has helped Texas place more veterans in jobs than any other state." Department of Labor statistics "for the 12 months ended June 30, 2010, the most recent data available," show that "38,714 veterans in Texas found jobs after seeking the commission's assistance. That's about 18,000 more jobs than veterans filled in the second-most-successful state, North Carolina." Notably, Texas' success can be attributed in part to the "size of its veteran population." According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Texas is "home to nearly 1.7 million veterans, second only to California, with 2 million, and just ahead of Florida."
- Veterans Website Available. Bucyrus Telegraph Forum "The Departments of Veterans Affairs re-launched an improved website for wounded warriors -- the National Resource Directory." The site has "extensive information about VA benefits, including disability benefits, pensions, health care insurance and the GI Bill."
- Lovell Is First VA In Nation To Open Caregiver Support Center. Lake County (IL) News-Sun The Lovell Federal Health Care Center, the first federal health care center, combining care for both veterans and active duty military, "is the first VA hospital in the nation to open a dedicated Caregiver Support Center." While "caregivers already have access to counseling by Lovell's caregiver support coordinator, Pam Rosentreter," the center provides "two large rooms that include comfortable furniture, a fireplace, big screen TV, kitchenette and personal computer."
- VistA Open Source Will 'Morph' To VA-DOD Joint EHR, VA CIO Says. Government Health IT Roger Baker, VA CIO, says "the joint electronic health record for the Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments," will effectively "be open source when it is complete." Baker said, "As VA moves VistA forward to become the joint EHR system -- I use the word 'morph' -- we're going to do that through the open source. So in effect the iEHR, when we get done, will be in the open source." VA and DOD "will evaluate the modules available through the open source community as a primary method for sourcing their joint and integrated electronic health record (iEHR)." He added that "DOD has become more excited by open source and 'sees it as a strong contributor as we move ahead.'"
- VA Director: We're Working To Clear Claims Backlog. Des Moines Register VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said his agency "is installing a computer system that should help reduce a huge backlog of disability claims from wounded soldiers, but it's impossible to say when the problem will be cleared up." He added that "the VA is working carefully to ensure the new computer system works correctly." Noting that he has only had his job for two years, "Shinseki said he doesn't know why it took so long for the VA to start automating its claims process." He also said "that the agency has made big strides," saying, "You'll find us different from the VA you might have run into a few years ago."
- VA Pays Out $2.2B In New Agent Orange Claims. Army Times The VA "paid $2.2 billion in benefits to 89,000 Vietnam veterans or survivors who filed claims related to" ischemic heart disease, hairy cell leukemia, and Parkinson's disease in the year since the agency started presuming they are linked to Agent Orange. "VA officials estimate that more than 200,000 former service members could be eligible for benefits according to the current guidelines." VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a news release, "I encourage all potentially eligible veterans to apply as soon as possible to preserve the most favorable effective date for payments."
- Warrior Battalion Embraces New Commander. Belvoir (VA) Eagle During "a change-of-command ceremony for the Fort Belvoir Warrior Transition Battalion," Lt. Col. Angel Mesa assumed command from Lt. Col. Jean Jones, who "is moving on to be the deputy brigade commander of the Warrior Transition Brigade at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center." According to Col. James Inman, Warrior Transition Brigade commander, "Mesa was a skilled Soldier who would get the job done."
- VistA Open Source Will 'Morph' To VA-DOD Joint EHR, VA CIO Says. Government Health IT Roger Baker, VA CIO, says "the joint electronic health record for the Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments," will effectively "be open source when it is complete." Baker said, "As VA moves VistA forward to become the joint EHR system -- I use the word 'morph' -- we're going to do that through the open source. So in effect the iEHR, when we get done, will be in the open source." VA and DOD "will evaluate the modules available through the open source community as a primary method for sourcing their joint and integrated electronic health record (iEHR)." He added that "DOD has become more excited by open source and 'sees it as a strong contributor as we move ahead.'"
26.Chamber Plans A Busy Sept. 23. Lebanon (PA) Daily News The "second annual Military Affairs Breakfast," organized by the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, will be held Friday, Sept. 23, to "highlight the importance of Fort Indiantown Gap and the Lebanon VA Medical Center to the area's economy." In addition to "updates on recent developments and activities at the Gap and the VA in South Lebanon Township, the breakfast will be highlighted by the presentation of the Chamber's 2011 Beyond the Call Award, displays of an array of military vehicles and optional tours of the Army Small Arms Simulator."
27.Centralia 4-H Students To Help Train Service Dogs For Soldiers. Seattle Times "Washington State University Extension and Lewis County 4-H" will soon begin a program that aims to "help ease the pain and nervousness of wounded soldiers returning to civilian life." Through the Lewis County "4-H Service Dog Project, willing 4-H volunteers in grades six through 12 will raise and train 12 puppies provided by Brigadoon Service Dogs of Bellingham." The dogs will be trained for "constant companionship, says project leader Tim Brix, of Centralia, who will run the program with his wife, Deanna." Ultimately, he says, the dogs will "likely be used by veterans who suffer from PTSD." Therefore, once the training by the 4-H students is complete, the dogs will be "taken for advanced training through the Bellingham organization, then matched with a veteran."
28.Shelter Dogs Train To Aid Vets With PTSD. AP "Rebecca Johnson an associate professor in both the University of Missouri's Sinclair School of Nursing and MU's College of Veterinary Medicine" is performing a study in which veterans "train shelter dogs." Initially, a "group of about a dozen veterans," working with professional dog trainers, teach the dogs "basic obedience skills." Dogs that show "extraordinary capabilities" proceed to an "advanced training class" to learn how to "become service dogs for veterans suffering from PTSD." The veterans who have "spent the past five months training 119 dogs," underwent pre-study tests to gauge "their moods, use of alcohol and other substances, stress levels and ability to readjust. After they're done with the training program," they will be re-tested and the findings will be compared to tests results from a control group of veterans.
29.Accustomed To Wheels, Thrill-Seeking Injured Veterans Take Wing. New York Times The "latest generation of disabled veterans" are increasingly engaging in "thrill-seeking activities. ... 'They love challenge, they love risk,'" said Disabled Sports USA Director Kirk Bauer, a Vietnam veteran. Challenge and risk were clearly the goals of the "five paraplegic military veterans" who traveled to Ketchum, Idaho, to learn to paraglide last month. "'I didn't think I'd ever fly again,'" said veteran Anthony Radetic. Because of such transformations, the VA has "enthusiastically supported what leaders there describe as an exponential increase in extreme sports, providing money for equipment and training." Albeit risky, such activities "are viewed as preferable to the drinking and depression that often follow life-altering injuries." Extreme sporting shows "them they can do anything they want," added Richard Stieglitz of the Wounded Warrior Project.
30.Widow Fights On Against VA. Boston Globe Since 1999, Agnes Chandonnet "has been pleading with Veterans Affairs to reconsider its version of how her husband died. Despite decades of treating Joseph Chandonnet for what no one disputes were military-related injuries, the government ruled that the dementia that took his life in 1993 was completely unrelated." The VA has "not been so much insensitive as unresponsive." In July, however, Chandonnet learned that her case was "being referred to an outside medical panel for review," meaning that maybe, "for the first time, someone in Washington will actually carefully review" the medical records after a "12-year fight for a benefit that totals $1,154 a month."
31.Vets Helping Vets. Corsicana (TX) Daily Sun "In the aftermath of Marine Lance Cpl. Erik Galvan's injuries from an IED explosion, veterans in the area sprang in to action, along with churches, individuals, schools, and others, eager to assist an American hero and his family." Vets Helping Vets is spearheading the fundraising for Galvan, who "lost both legs and one hand when he was hit." VHV Director Thomas Hughes is asking all veterans in the area to "come together to help a brother veteran in need." Volunteers and all VHV members "have been working long hours gathering donations" and urging all "VFW posts, American Legion posts, Purple Heart and Disabled American Veterans members to get involved."
32.War Veteran Sky Dives Into Concert And Gets A New Home. WTVF-TV When "Air Force Veteran Shaun Meadows came to the Woods at Fontanel by parachute Friday night," the double amputee "thought he was there for a concert." Meadows, who nearly died after an "IED exploded in 2008 while he was serving in Afghanistan," was led to believe he was there "to sky dive into the venue with Big Kenny." However, when the country music "stars brought Meadows and his family onto the stage," he learned that the group Operation Finally Home had "coordinated efforts to build the Meadows family a new home on property they own outside of Nashville."
33.Plans For Veteran's Appreciation Day Coming Together. Herkimer (NY) Telegram "Organizers of the upcoming Veterans Appreciation Day put a spit shine on plans for the 12th annual event that's slated to take place here next weekend. The theme of this year's observance, which will be held at American Legion Post 920 in Ilion on Saturday, Sept. 10, from noon to 5 p.m., is 'We Stand United.'" those invited to participate in the gathering include "area veterans, their families, law enforcement officials, firefighters, former prisoners of war and Gold Star. ... Korean War Army veteran Vito Tisci of Ilion will serve as the guest speaker" at a memorial service scheduled for 1 p.m.
34.A Portland Veteran Reunites With Family After Three Decades. The Oregonian Bill Saxbury found an Oregonian article published in June "about a fishing event for veterans at Hagg Lake, near Forest Grove" through a Google search for his brother, Ed, a Vietnam veteran who had been missing for 28 years. When Brothers Bill and Wick Saxbury were reunited with Ed on Wednesday in Corning, New York, they "stayed up until 2 a.m. sharing stories and memories." The article includes a photo gallery.
35.Patriot Guard Riders Team With Blue Star Mothers. Your News Rochester "The Patriot Guard riders are teaming with the Blue Star Mothers to raise money for military families and collect items for care packages to send to troops currently serving in the military. ... Money raised will go towards Help on the Homefront and the Veterans Recovery Program."
A welcoming home for our Troops.
