Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 4-8-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Amid Negative Reports, VA Under Secretary Announces Retirement.  
2. Study Finds Brain Scans Might Help Diagnose PTSD.  
3. VA Hospital To Offer Support Group To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets.  
4. During Harlingen Announcement, Lawmaker Pledges Full VA Hospital.  
5. Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Seen As Potential Location For New VA Facility.  
6. Funding To Pay For Repairs At Grand Junction VAMC.  
7. Carl Vinson VAMC Using Video Games For Therapy, Fun.  
8. VA Hospital Said To Be An Employment Bright Spot In St. Cloud.  
9. Winter Sports Clinic Provides Disabled Vet With Mentoring Opportunity.  
10. Vet Pleads Guilty To Engineering Largest Fraud Case In VA History.  

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
Veterans, employees and the public can see how VA plans to spend the more than $1.4 billion it is receiving as part of President Obama’s stimulus package by viewing VA’s internet site at www.va.gov/recovery. The stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is part of federal efforts to stimulate the economy through government programs. VA will use the funds to improve medical facilities and national cemeteries, provide grants to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and domiciliaries, and to modify or alter existing facilities to care for veterans. Funds from ARRA will also be used to hire and train temporary claims processors, and pursue needed information technology initiatives. In addition, VA will make a one-time payment of $250 to eligible veterans and survivors who received compensation, pension, dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), or spina bifida benefits any time between November 2008 and January 2009. More details including project timelines will be available May 1, 2009. As information becomes available, VA will post it on the VA recovery Web site.

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1.      Amid Negative Reports, VA Under Secretary Announces Retirement.   In continuing coverage, the Washington Times (4/8, Hudson) reports Dr. Michael J. Kussman, the Department of Veterans Affairs "official in charge" of its health system, "announced his retirement Tuesday amid a cluster of media reports about the agency mishandling the medical care of the nation’s veterans." Kussman, "who became under secretary for health in 2007, says he will end his 37 years of government service May 9." The "Washington Times on Tuesday reported that the VA is investigating whether its failure to sanitize hospital colonoscopy equipment is responsible for infecting one veteran with the HIV virus and 16 others with hepatitis." The investigation was announced by Kussman, who "came under fire in August after an inspector general investigation uncovered rampant violations" in a human experiments program run by an Arkansas veterans hospital.
      VA Officials: Retirement Has Nothing To Do With Recent Investigation.   The Washington Post (4/8, A15) reports, "Kussman was expected to retire this summer, and VA officials stressed that his departure now is not connected" to the colonoscopy equipment investigation. The Post adds, "In addition to concerns about the treatment of VA patients, Kussman recently acknowledged in a memo serious problems with an eight-year, $167 million project to develop a new computerized scheduling system for patients at VA hospitals." Meanwhile, in his Washington Post (4/7) "Federal Eye" blog, Ed O’Keefe noted that when Kussman announced his retirement, he said the VA "has a reputation for providing ‘the best care anywhere,’ and I hope I have helped to enhance that reputation.’ But that reputation may face new strains, pending the results" of the aforementioned investigation.
      In a related story, the Washington Post /AP (4/8, A15) again notes the investigation, saying the agency recently "cautioned there was no way to prove that…patients contracted" HIV or hepatitis "because of treatment at their facilities." But in "an e-mail late Friday," the VA "said it is investigating ‘the possibility of such a relationship.’"
      VA Attempting To Determine Cause Of Vet’s Positive HIV Test.   The CNN (4/7, Pifer-Bixler) website said the VA "has launched an investigation into whether there is a connection between improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran’s positive HIV test. This comes after more than 10,000 veterans were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been properly cleaned." In a news release sent out late last week, Kussman said his agency "prides itself on being accountable…and as a result we have initiated an investigation." CNN added, "In a letter last month to Gen. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, requested that the VA Office of Inspector General ‘begin an investigation into the potential problems of contamination; whether any patient has contracted an infection from unsterilized equipment; and, most importantly, how we can prevent such problems from happening again.’"

2.      Study Finds Brain Scans Might Help Diagnose PTSD.   HealthDay (4/8, Preidt) reports, "Someday, doctors might use brain scans to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to researchers who conducted tests on 42 American soldiers who’d recently served in Iraq or Afghanistan." Soldiers participating in the study were divided into two groups – "those with PTSD (22) and those who didn’t have the condition (20)." An MRI was then "used to examine the brain patterns of the soldiers while they performed a…short-term memory task that included distractions." The "soldiers with PTSD performed more poorly when they were shown both traumatic and neutral photos, while the soldiers without PTSD were only distracted by the traumatic photos." In a news release, study leader Dr. Rajendra Morey, "director of the neuroimaging lab at Durham Veterans Administration Center, said that if "further research confirms this preliminary finding, this pattern could be useful in distinguishing the PTSD brain." Science Daily (4/7), which published a similar study, noted that the study "was presented Friday" at the 2009 International Congress of the World Psychiatric Association.
      VA Hospital Using High-Tech Devices To Help Vets Adjust To Hidden Injuries.   On its website, WMAQ-TV Chicago, IL (4/7, Kwan, Ray) said, "They’re called invisible war wounds," and "you’ve probably heard about one of them: the devastating psychological condition called" PTSD. But as "many as one in three injured troops, and more than 3 million" US civilians suffer from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), which like PTSD, cannot be seen from the outside. WMAQ noted that at the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital "near Chicago, returning veterans are getting help from high-tech devices to adjust" to such injuries.

3.      VA Hospital To Offer Support Group To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets.   KOIN-TV Portland, OR (4/7, 5:45 p.m. PT) broadcast that beginning this Thursday, the Veterans Affairs medical center in Portland "will offer a free support group for veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and their families. The group will discuss challenges faced by men and women returning from combat and how post combat stress affects not just veterans, but the entire family."

4.      During Harlingen Announcement, Lawmaker Pledges Full VA Hospital.   In continuing coverage, Texas’ Valley Morning Star (4/7, Essex) noted, "Military veterans cheered on Monday" when US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) "pledged to eventually build a full-blown Department of Veterans Affairs hospital" as she helped announce "construction of an outpatient ambulatory surgical center" in Harlingen. Speaking to an "overflow crowd" gathered in Harlingen, Hutchison "promised that…eventually a complete veterans hospital will be built in the Rio Grande Valley." Timothy Shea, director of the VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network, also spoke Monday, noting that "contracts…will go into effect April 13 providing long-term care at five Valley hospitals." The Brownsville (TX) Morning Herald (4/7) ran the same story.
      The San Antonio (TX) Express-News (4/7, Brezosky) said Monday’s announcement accompanied a "groundbreaking…for a three-story outpatient surgery and care center" in Harlingen, but Hutchison "told an auditorium full of applauding veterans and local dignitaries" that the facility is a "down payment" for a hospital. The Express-News added, "Veterans last month staged" a second march to San Antonio "to protest the distance

they must travel to use veteran benefits for even routine medical care." But since the first march occurred four years ago, the VA "has opened clinics and signed agreements with hospitals, efforts the agency says will eliminate 95 percent of the trips."

5.      Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Seen As Potential Location For New VA Facility.   In continuing coverage, the South Bend (IN) Tribune (4/8, Ronco) says, "Don’t rule out one of the soon-to-be-empty Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center buildings as a location for a new, expanded" Veterans Affairs medical center. Last week, US Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) announced that the VA "would establish a more than 60,000-square-foot medical center in the South Bend area." A site for the facility "has not been chosen," said Tim Twiss, spokesman for the VA Northern Indiana Health Care System. But according to Saint Joseph spokesman Mike Stack, informal discussions "have taken place about VA possibly using a facility belonging to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center."

6.      Funding To Pay For Repairs At Grand Junction VAMC.   During the last portion of a story on the "work force tour" being conducted by US Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), the KJCT-TV Grand Junction, CO (4/7, Goldenberg) website noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs "recently announced $3.38 million in funding for the Grand Junction Medical Center– to create jobs and help" the facility "make important repairs," including "energy efficient updates."
      Udall Visits Hospital.   At the end of a story noting Udall’s recent comments on Social Security and Medicare, the Grand Junction (CO) Sentinel (4/8, Harmon) says the lawmaker "was in Grand Junction on Tuesday to…visit" the Grand Junction VAMC.

7.      Carl Vinson VAMC Using Video Games For Therapy, Fun.   On its website, WGXA-TV Macon, GA (4/7, Bui) said veterans at the Carl Vinson Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Dublin are enjoying a new therapy tool to improve motor skills and relieve stress." Nintendo Wii’s "are popular" at VA medical centers "across the country," and, while there "have been Wii’s at…Carl Vinson" for "less than a year," they are "already one of the most popular activities" because they "provide an opportunity for veterans to socialize," as well as "improve hand-eye coordination."

8.      VA Hospital Said To Be An Employment Bright Spot In St. Cloud.   The St. Cloud (MN) Times (4/8, Petrie) reports, "An aging veteran population and need for more services contributed to a 22 percent increase in the number of employees" at the St. Cloud Veterans Affairs Medical Center since 2007, making the hospital "one of the few employers in the area that is hiring during a recession" which "has created a 9.8 percent unemployment rate in the St. Cloud area." The facility has also increased "its services with a recent groundbreaking for a community-based clinic in Alexandria," and the expansion of a Brainerd facility, where urgent care was added and a day surgery center was created. The Times notes that VA spokeswoman Joan Vincent "said she expects growth to continue over the next few years as Vietnam-era veterans…age."

9.      Winter Sports Clinic Provides Disabled Vet With Mentoring Opportunity.   In continuing coverage, the KSAZ-TV Phoenix, AZ (4/7) website said the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic gives longtime clinic participant John Devine an "opportunity to mentor newly disabled veterans." The clinic recently completed its 23rd year, and "clinic founder Sandy Trombetta said the mission remains clear. ‘We have such a sense of family here. … We’re all together in this and that is to provide the greatest possible experience that we can to these veterans,’ Trombetta said." The KDFW-TV Dallas, TX (4/7) website published the same story.
      Columnist Inspired By Clinic Participants.   In a related column for the Snowmass (CO) Sun (4/8), David Frey writes, "What is striking about the veterans who come each year to the clinic is the determination to find a life after tragedy." For "these veterans, life goes on. It’s advice we can all use every once and a while."

10.    Vet Pleads Guilty To Engineering Largest Fraud Case In VA History.   In continuing coverage, the AP (4/8) reports, "A former Idaho sheriff’s deputy who falsely claimed he was paraplegic has pleaded guilty in a $1.5 million disability fraud case" that US Attorney James A. McDevitt "said is the largest in Veterans Affairs Department history." James M. Sebero, a 59-year-old veteran, "accepted an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty Monday to charges of wire fraud and making a false statement." Sebero "agreed to forfeit personal assets and to pay $950,000 in restitution, and could face 20 years and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 10." The Seattle Times (4/7) ran a similar story, while similar reports were aired by KNDO-TV Yakima, WA (4/7, 6:06 p.m. PT) and KKCO-TV Grand Junction, CO (4/7, 5:36 p.m. MT).