Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 8-14-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Obama: Creating "Consumer-Friendly" VA Could Take Some Time.  
2. Contracts Awarded For VA Healthcare Facilities In Mississippi.  
3. Surgery-Seeking Vet Says He Was Turned Away From VA Hospital Over Money
4. Instructor Provides Yoga Therapy Patients At Haley VAMC, Walter Reed.  
5. VA Hospital In Colorado Hoping To Serve More Female Vets.
6. VA Specialist Winds Up CNMI Visit  
7. VA Expands Services In Two New York Locations.  
8. Work Begins On VA Butler Healthcare Assisted-Living Center.  
9. VA To Open New Clinic In Virginia.  
10. County Legislature Approves Lease Agreement For VA Clinic Move.

1.      Obama: Creating "Consumer-Friendly" VA Could Take Some Time.   In continuing coverage, the Military Times (8/14, McMichael) reports, "President Barack Obama not only wants to improve the treatment of America’s veterans, but also to reach out to homeless veterans, as well as those who have turned their backs on – or are unaware of – the benefits they’ve earned. ‘What we’re trying to do is just break down the hurdles that exist between veterans and VA,’" the President "told Military Times and a small group of other defense reporters in an Aug. 4 meeting in the White House Roosevelt Room. But lowering one of those hurdles – creating what Obama called ‘a VA that is consumer-friendly, that is oriented not towards keeping people out but bringing people in’ – will not happen quickly, he said." As evidence of an effort to do so, however, Obama and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "touted a boost in VA funding, an increase of 4,000 claims adjusters since January 2007, a total of 18,000 mental health providers, a national suicide hotline, technological improvements in the benefits claims process, the ongoing effort to create electronic medical records that VA and the Pentagon can easily share and a more proactive and helpful attitude at both agencies."
      "Efficiencies And Accountability" Said To Be Needed At VA.   The Military Times (8/14) also notes Obama’s comments in an editorial, saying that while the "Obama administration has made a good-faith effort to fulfill its campaign promises by boosting VA funding and building on efforts to improve VA services," the agency "will need still more resources in the future," so "Obama will have to demand efficiencies and accountability that are all but countercultural within VA." 

2.      Contracts Awarded For VA Healthcare Facilities In Mississippi.   In continuing coverage, the Mississippi Business Journal (8/14) reports, "Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced six contracts have been awarded worth $153.7 million to build new healthcare facilities and expand existing services that provide care to veterans in the Biloxi area. The projects, which include an addition" to the Biloxi VA Medical Center, are the "result of a department-wide reorganization of VA’s healthcare resources and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina." The Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (8/13, Melton) and the WLOX-TV Biloxi, MS (8/13) website also noted the contracts. 

3.      Surgery-Seeking Vet Says He Was Turned Away From VA Hospital Over Money.   On its website, WWAY-TV Wilmington, NC (8/13) reported, "Health care is a hot topic, especially when it comes to those who have served our country," and now, Roddie Jones, a "local veteran seeking" surgery, "says he was turned away over money" from the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fayetteville. Jones "says he was turned away because he wasn’t eligible for care. His income level from 2008 exceeded the threshold to receive treatment at a reduced cost," but there "is hope for Jones." A representative from the VA hospital "told us all he would have to do is apply for the hardship program to readjust his income level."
  

4.      Instructor Provides Yoga Therapy Patients At Haley VAMC, Walter Reed.   The Tampa (FL) Tribune (8/13, Hoye) noted that yoga instructor Annie Okerlin is providing "yoga therapy to wounded soldiers and veterans" at the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Medical Center "through her Exalted Warrior Foundation." She "also travels" to Washington, DC, "to instruct patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center every four to six weeks. Warrior yoga students range from military personnel injured in the Iraq War to veterans injured in non-military related accidents stateside. Their wounds are physical, like amputations, and mental, such as post traumatic stress disorder," and Okerlin "treats both with yoga." 

5.      VA Hospital In Colorado Hoping To Serve More Female Vets.   On its website, KJCT-TV Grand Junction, CO (8/13) said the local Veterans Affairs hospital "has found they need to specialize…in women," who "are entering the armed forces in record numbers." Female vets "have always been welcomed for treatment" at the Colorado facility, but recently, "it has been mandated that all" VA hospitals "must employ a Women’s Veteran Program Manager." The hospital in Colorado "hopes more female veterans will take advantage of the care they’ve earned."

 6.      VA Specialist Winds Up CNMI Visit.   In continuing coverage, the Saipan Tribune (8/14, Rodriguez) reports, "A public contact and outreach specialist of the Department of Veterans Affairs concludes her five-day visit to the CNMI" Friday "with a briefing at the Tinian Mayor’s Office. Danielle Gualtieri said she is on island to gather feedback from military veterans, to answer questions about their benefits, and to update them on various programs for veterans. There are over a thousand veterans in the CNMI: 990 on Saipan, 80 on Rota and 10 on Tinian. Only about a dozen have come forward to see Gualtieri," who "conducted a briefing at the Mayor’s Office on Rota on Aug. 10-11 and at the Office of the Military/Veterans Affairs on Capital Hill, Saipan, on Aug. 12-13. She said most veterans might not have any questions, explaining the low turnout. ‘Well, it’s not a mandatory meeting,’ she added." The Tribune noted that the Federal "Veterans Affairs Office is currently in the process of establishing a clinic for members on Saipan. Ruth Coleman, executive officer of the CNMI Military/Veterans Affairs Office, said the clinic would be opened before the end of the year."  

7.      VA Expands Services In Two New York Locations.   The Buffalo News (8/13, 188K) reported, "The Department of Veterans Affairs is offering two new medical services for veterans-a Springville clinic and an expanded dialysis unit in the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center." An "open house for the $1.5 million dialysis unit with 18 stations" was scheduled to be held Thursday. Meanwhile, earlier "this week, a debut event for the new clinic in Springville, 27 Franklin St., drew about 50 veterans, said Evangeline Conley, VA spokeswoman. ‘They’re very, very happy, that VA health care is now being provided in their community,’ said Conley, who noted about 800 veterans live in the Springville area."  

8.      Work Begins On VA Butler Healthcare Assisted-Living Center.   The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (8/14, Wills, 154K) reports, "Work on a new $16 million assisted-living center at VA Butler Healthcare has started and will be finished in two years. The Community Living Center, as the nursing home is known," will "have 60 beds. ‘We are extremely pleased with the design concepts,’ said VA Butler Healthcare’s director Patricia Nealon. ‘The new facility will enable us to better meet the needs of our veterans now and in the future.’" 

9.      VA To Open New Clinic In Virginia.   In continuing coverage, the Bland County (VA) Messenger (8/14, Kegley, 4K) reports, "Late this year or early next, area veterans will no longer need to travel long distances to reach" a Veterans Affairs "outpatient clinic. That’s when the VA is expected to open a clinic in the District Three Governmental Cooperative building east of Marion." On Monday, US Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) "announced the planned opening for the Smyth County" facility, "saying the clinic would benefit the county’s veterans directly as well as veterans coming into Smyth from the surrounding region for medical care services." The "VA hospital in Johnson City, Tenn., will operate the Marion clinic, Boucher said." 

10.    County Legislature Approves Lease Agreement For VA Clinic Move.   The East Meadow (NY) Herald (8/14, Caputo) reports, "It took nearly a decade, but the veterans will soon have a new home" in the Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) in East Meadow. On Monday, an "18-0 vote in the county Legislature…approved a lease agreement that permits the Northport Veterans Administration Hospital to move its Nassau satellite clinic in Plainview to a new space at the NUMC. Construction is expected to begin immediately with a target grand opening in February."