Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 8-19-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. VA Urged To "Get Real" About New GI Bill Backlog.  
2. Assistant VA Secretary On "Quest To Improve" Federal Hiring System.  
3. Public Asked To Help Bring VA Hospital To South Jersey.   I
4. Little Money Handed Out By Massachusetts Vets Program.  
5. Groundbreaking On New VA Clinic A "Proud Day" For Wagner, South Dakota.
6. VA Assisting Older Vets With Weekly Meeting For Ex-POWs.  
7. Veterans’ Welcome Committee Makes Donation To Nebraska Cemetery.  
8. Praise VA Plan To Open New Vet Centers.  
9. Jesse Brown VAMC Attempts To Raise Awareness About Its Services.
10.     NRC Told Six More Vets Received Incorrect Radiation Doses At VA Hospital.

1.      VA Urged To "Get Real" About New GI Bill Backlog.   In continuing coverage, Allan Holmes, writing for NextGov‘s (8/18) "What’s Brewin’" blog, noted that on Monday, "at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention" in Arizona, "President Obama called for a new reform effort in the Veterans Affairs Department." Obama, who "said VA should harness the best computer system to cut red tape, reduce the backlog of claims, slash wait times and deliver benefits" sooner, "directed Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients and Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra to work with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and the department’s employees to come up with the best ideas to meet those goals and then make them happen. I have a more modest suggestion for VA today: Get real about the backlog of pending post 9/11 GI bill education benefits claims." 

2.      Assistant VA Secretary On "Quest To Improve" Federal Hiring System.   The Federal Times (8/19, Neal, 40K) interviews "John Sepulveda, the Veterans Affairs Department’s assistant secretary of human resources," who "is on a quest to improve" the Federal hiring system. Sepulveda, who "said reform is critical to attracting young people to the Federal government and preparing for the wave of baby boomers expected to retire in coming years," notes that the VA is "starting up an automated human resources information system. A lot of what we do currently is still paper-based. That slows things up." According to the Times, Sepulveda added, "We’ve been working with our colleagues at other Federal agencies and OPM to push hard on veterans’ employment opportunities in the Federal government. Disabled individuals are another major area of concern and priority for us," as "is diversity." The Times notes that Sepulveda also praised VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and President Obama for their support of his efforts. 

 3.      Public Asked To Help Bring VA Hospital To South Jersey.   In a letter to the editor of the Hammonton (NJ) News (8/19), Jeff Van Drew, a state senator in New Jersey, says he, along with his "1st Legislative District Assembly colleagues Nelson Albano and Matt Milam, 9th Legislative District Senator Christopher Connors and his Assembly colleague, Brian Rumpf, and 2nd Legislative District Sen. Jim Whelan and Assemblyman John Amodeo, are pulling out all the stops to convince" US Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki "to consider the now-empty William B. Kessler Memorial Hospital in Hammonton for a South Jersey veterans medical facility." Van Drew adds, "We also have begun a petition drive in support of the efforts to bring a veterans medical facility to South Jersey. We need thousands of signatures on our petitions, enough to convince the VA that South Jersey veterans deserve the best care we can provide them." 
4.      Little Money Handed Out By Massachusetts Vets Program.   The Boston Globe (8/19, McQuarrie, 349K) reports, "Three years after Massachusetts officials pledged to pay ‘Welcome Home’ bonuses of up to $1,000 to veterans returning from active duty, some $10 million set aside for the program still languishes in state coffers. State officials and veterans advocates alike say they are vexed by the lack of participation in the program, launched in 2006 as a goodwill gesture toward" post-9/11 vets, "many of whom went to war." Officials "speculate that some returning veterans are reluctant to accept handouts or to tackle the application process," but "some also blame bureaucratic problems that have made it harder for officials to track down" eligible vets. The Globe notes that Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray "said that he and a delegation of Massachusetts officials met this year with Eric Shinseki, the US veterans affairs secretary, and urged him to provide more accurate discharge information to the states." Shinseki "replied that he would consider including a current e-mail address on discharge papers, Murray said. Such a move would greatly improve the tracking process, according to the lieutenant governor." 

 5.      Groundbreaking On New VA Clinic A "Proud Day" For Wagner, South Dakota.   In continuing coverage, South Dakota’s The Announcer (8/19, Wepking) reports US Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) "was one of many dignitaries present at the ground-breaking for the Wagner Veteran’s Clinic, which was held on Friday, August 14, 2009 near Indian Health Services. ‘This is a proud day for Wagner,’" said Johnson. Paul Bockelman, director of the Sioux Falls Veterans Affairs Medical Center, offered similar comments when he "said, ‘On behalf of the 825 employees who work in the Sioux Valley area, we are very happy to see this coming to fruition.’"

 6.      VA Assisting Older Vets With Weekly Meeting For Ex-POWs.   The East Valley (AZ) Tribune (8/18, Bowser) said a weekly meeting of former prisoners of war at Mesa’s Southeast Extension Clinic of the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is one way the VA has addressed the remnants of post-traumatic stress disorder in older veterans, after the phenomenon of mental wounds…became a center of military officials’ attention in recent years." The VA’s Eric Guyton "said the clinic has seen an increase in the number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returning home in need of vital mental and physical health services. To date, the clinic serves more than 1,500" such veterans, but the "clinic has a patient list of roughly 14,000 veterans, many of whom are advanced in age and fought in Vietnam, Korea, and World War II, Guyton said." 

7.      Veterans’ Welcome Committee Makes Donation To Nebraska Cemetery.   The Chadron (NE) News (8/18, Ledbetter) reported, "A $750 donation from the Chadron Welcome Home committee to the new Nebraska State Veteran’s Cemetery in Alliance will be used for the cemetery’s permanent endowment, according to cemetery administrator Allen Panell." On Friday, Panell "was in Chadron…to accept the funds, which committee members said represent the balance of the donations collected from area residents and businesses for celebrations held in 2004 and 2007 to welcome returning National Guard soldiers from Iraq." 

8.      Praise VA Plan To Open New Vet Centers.   The Tri-City (WA) Herald (8/19) reports, "A center to provide to provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to combat veterans will open in Walla Walla next year," the VA announced recently. The VA "said its existing 232 community-based Vet Centers are a key component of its effort to provide combat veterans with mental health screening and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder counseling. Walla Walla is one of 28 new locations selected to help meet a growing need for services, the VA said. ‘I am pleased that the VA has recognized the needs of the Walla Walla veterans community,’ said" US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)., "in a statement. ‘Especially now, with so many of our troops overseas and more and more veterans coming home struggling with PTSD and other psychological health issues, it is imperative that veterans have a support system in their communities.’"
      In a front page story, the Abilene (TX) Reporter-News (8/19, Kieke) notes, "Jim Defoor, Taylor County veterans service officer, formally announced plans Tuesday for a veterans center" that "will serve veterans returning from war areas with post-traumatic syndrome, traumatic brain injuries or other mental or emotional problems brought on by time in the war zones. Bereavement counseling will also be available for family members" at the center, "one of 28 that will be added to the existing 232 centers across the nation. The additions are a response" by the VA "to the growing needs of military personnel returning from war zones."  

9.      Jesse Brown VAMC Attempts To Raise Awareness About Its Services.   The Chicago Tribune (8/19, Owen, 498K) reports 52-year-old Octavia Mitchell, "who served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm," is "one of about 78,000 veterans treated annually" at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She "shares its mission to attract more veterans. ‘You would be surprised at how many veterans are not aware that they are entitled to this,’ said Mitchell, who is sometimes called the ‘VA Crier.’" The Tribune adds that to "try to make sure more know about their benefits," the hospital "hosted a ‘We Are Here’ event Monday where veterans could get anything from a health screening to an opportunity to speak with someone" from the VA. And on October 21st, The hospital "will sponsor its third annual Veteran Service Fair…for veterans and their families." 

10.    NRC Told Six More Vets Received Incorrect Radiation Doses At VA Hospital.   In continuing coverage, the AP (8/19) reports, "Six more cases have been found of cancer patients being given incorrect radiation doses" at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Philadelphia while undergoing brachytherapy, a "common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer. That brings the total to 98 veterans who were given incorrect radiation doses over a six-year period at the hospital." The "newly reported cases have been forwarded" from the VA to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The New York Times (8/19, 1.06M) publishes a very similar version of the AP story in its "National Briefing, Mid-Atlantic" column, while the Washington (DC) Examiner (8/19, O’Malley) also covers this story.