Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-18-08

1. VA Breaks Ground On New Clinic In Texas
2. VA Announces New Claims Processing Procedures.  
3. Obama Campaign Promises Could Mean Changes At VA.  
4. Economic Crisis Said To Be Particularly Hard On Newest Vets.  
5. Casey Says Army Wants Longer Homefront Stints, Single Disability Exam.  
6. Amputees, Prosthetics Industry At Odds Over Coverage Limits.  
7. VA Hospital Involved With Program That Will Provide Hats To Injured Military Personnel.  
8. Tuscaloosa VAMC Starts Clergy Outreach Program.  
9. VA Doctor To Host PTSD Session In Alaska.  
10. VA Opens New Clinic In Georgia.

1.      VA Breaks Ground On New Clinic In Texas.   The Fort Worth Business Press (11/18, Bassett) reports the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System "broke ground last week on a new clinic in Tarrant County that when functional in 2010 will be the largest" VA leased outpatient clinic in the nation. Currently, "there is a clinic in Fort Worth on East Rosedale Street that serves veterans and a large VA hospital in Dallas." The "new clinic is intended to be large enough to handle the increasing patient load. The VA will lease the 239,000-square-foot facility from a private company, and staff and services will be expanded."

2.      VA Announces New Claims Processing Procedures.   On its website, KHQ-TV Spokane, WA (11/17) reported that on Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs "announced special procedures for processing claims from veterans, family members, and survivors whose applications for financial benefits" from the VA "may have been mishandled by VA personnel. These special procedures come after an audit" by the VA’s Inspector General "found documents waiting to be shredded at some" VA "regional offices that, if disposed of, could have affected the financial benefits awarded to veterans and survivors." In a press release noting his agency’s new procedures, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said that in using the procedures, which the nation’s the six largest veterans service organizations helped develop, the VA "will be guided by two principles — full accountability for VA staff and ensuring veterans receive the benefit of the doubt if receipt of a document by VA is in question."

3.      Obama Campaign Promises Could Mean Changes At VA.   The Army Times (11/17, Maze) reported, "President-elect Barack Obama…now faces delivering on some" of his campaign promises, including his vow to ease the transition to civilian life for veterans, "especially wounded combat veterans." Obama "promised improved coordination between the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs on standardizing and sharing personnel and medical records, expanding mental health services," and "putting more veterans centers in rural areas. None are new ideas, but all need money and attention in order to be accomplished." The Times added, "The Obama administration" will also "be responsible for overseeing VA’s implementation of the sweeping new Post-9/11 GI Bill."

4.      Economic Crisis Said To Be Particularly Hard On Newest Vets.   The New York Times (11/18, A1, Alvarez) reports, "While few Americans are sheltered from the jolt of the recent economic crisis, the nation’s newest veterans, particularly the wounded, are being hit especially hard. The triple-whammy of injury, unemployment," and "waiting for disability claims to be processed has forced many veterans into foreclosure, or sent them teetering on its edge, according to veterans’ organizations." Congress, which "recently asked the Veterans Affairs Department to find out how badly veterans were being affected, particularly by foreclosures," has "taken small steps to help." However, its "short-term measures," which include temporary foreclosure protection, do "little to address…underlying economic difficulties," leading some to "believe…the government has to do more. ‘There have to be incentives for employers,’ said" Thomas L. Wilkerson, "chief executive of the Naval Institute, an independent nonprofit group."

5.      Casey Says Army Wants Longer Homefront Stints, Single Disability Exam.   The AP (11/17) reported, "After years of longer and more frequent deployments" in the US Army, "soldiers should get more time at home as long as overall demand for troops overseas holds steady," Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said Monday. Casey made his comments "during a news conference after a Purple Heart ceremony" held "at the Center for the Intrepid, a rehab facility at Fort Sam Houston," on a day "designated by the Army to focus on the medical care given to wounded soldiers." The AP added, "Currently, wounded soldiers undergo an Army medical exam to determine their fitness for duty and disability payments from the service." Later, when the soldier leaves the Army, a "second exam is done by the Department of Veterans Affairs." The "Army and the VA are working to develop a single" disability medical exam "but merging the two systems has proven complicated, Casey said." The WOAI-AM San Antonio, TX (11/17, Forsyth) website published a similar story.

6.      Amputees, Prosthetics Industry At Odds Over Coverage Limits.   The AP (11/17) reported on "a nationwide fight by amputees and the prosthetics industry to get the states and Congress to require fuller coverage for artificial limbs. The insurance industry is fighting the effort, saying such mandates drive up costs and reduce the flexibility customers want." But Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas "recently signed into law a bill making Vermont the 10th state to require insurance companies to cover prosthetics as fully as they do other medical procedures. A similar measure is pending in Congress." The AP added, "While many private insurers have strict limits" on prosthetic devices, "government programs tend to be more generous." For example, the Veterans Affairs Department, which "is seeing a growing number of amputees returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, provides prosthetic care without limits, said VA spokesman Terry Jemison."

7.      VA Hospital Involved With Program That Will Provide Hats To Injured Military Personnel.   The first story in the "Sports" column in Foster’s Daily Democrat (11/17) reported the University of New Hampshire (UNH) athletic department "recently announced the creation of a special project called ‘Operation Hat Trick,’" which "will give hats to injured military personnel. The project was spurred by a radio segment in the early part of 2008 that reported, ‘the thing most wanted by those members of the military who have received head injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan is a baseball cap to cover their wounds, dressings and scars.’" The initiative involves a "partnership…between the UNH athletic department" and several organizations, including "the local Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manchester."

8.      Tuscaloosa VAMC Starts Clergy Outreach Program.   WIAT-TV Birmingham, AL (11/17, 6:07 p.m. ET) broadcast, "The Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center is finding new ways to reach out to vets" by "starting a clergy outreach program. Local religious leaders can now get trained on how to deal with vets when they seek them out for help with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, anger, and any other problems from their military experiences."

9.      VA Doctor To Host PTSD Session In Alaska.   The Fairbanks (AK) Daily News-Miner (11/17) reported the "chief of psychiatry with the Veterans Administration health care system in Alaska will conduct a community forum" on post-traumatic stress disorder this Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge. At the event, which is "free and open to the public," Dr. Joseph Pace "will talk about what this disorder means to members of the military, their families and the community." The VA "says the session will be of interest to employers, educators, clergy, health care providers, military members and veterans."

10.    VA Opens New Clinic In Georgia.   On its website, WMAZ-TV Macon, GA (11/17, Lynch) reported, "At least 13,000 Central Georgia veterans can get care closer to home" because the Department of Veterans Affairs "opened an outpatient clinic in Perry Monday morning." The clinic "offers podiatry, women’s and mental health care, a pharmacy and state of the art paperless records, plus other technologies." For example, instead of patients "traveling long distances for care, the clinic brings the doctors to patients in Perry through a video telecast. They say the system is particularly useful for psychiatry and dermatology appointments."