VA Clinic in Pensacola

New VA clinic opens in Pcola Monday 09/12/08. The Joint Ambulatory Care Clinic is located near Pensacola Naval Hospital and is the largest clinic within the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System and will provide improved services for veterans in the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama. The Clinic encompasses over 200,000 square feet and cost $45 Million to construct. ChipleyPaper.com

HR 1527

House Passes Veterans' Health Bill, Cost-of-Living Increase 09/11/08. The House on Wednesday voted 417-0 to approve a bill (HR 1527) that would establish a three-year pilot program to allow "highly rural" veterans enrolled in four of the Department of Veterans Affairs' 21 health care networks to receive health services through outside providers, CQ Today reports. The bill defines highly rural as veterans seeking primary care who live more than 60 miles from the nearest veterans' facility; veterans seeking acute hospital care who live more than 120 miles from a facility; and those seeking tertiary care who live more than 240 miles from a facility. The bill also would allow veterans to access care at other facilities if VA determines that travel would be difficult for veterans or subject them to hardship. Separately, the House on Wednesday voted 418-0 to approve a bill (S 2617) that would provide a cost-of-living increase in disability benefits for veterans and dependents and indemnity compensation for the families of veterans. Kaisernetwork

VA Criticized Over Destroyed Specimens

House panel knocks VA over destroyed specimens 09/10/08. Lawmakers on Tuesday castigated Veterans Administration health officials for ordering the destruction of biomedical specimens on Legionnaires' disease and other infectious diseases that two prominent researchers had collected over a quarter-century. AP

Philadelphia Region VA

'Perfect storm' means VA expansion 09/10/08. Veterans receiving treatment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in University City and four regional clinics are at their highest levels ever, according to hospital officials. More than 57,000 veterans are expected this year and even more in the years ahead. A hospital spokesman calls veterans’ health care “a growth industry” and a local congressman has described the current landscape as “a perfect storm” because of Vietnam veterans entering their 60s and two current wars. Metro

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Comments On GAO Report

Defense Department Failing To Effectively Monitor Health Of Returning Troops, New GAO Report Shows 09/09/08. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) commented today on a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the latest in a number of reports on the Department of Defense’s failure to adequately assess the post-deployment health of returning servicemembers. The report issued September 4, 2008 by the Government Accountability Office, found several problems with DOD oversight of the post-deployment health reassessment (PDHRA). U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

VA Errors

Study finds errors in Pa. VA hospital treatments 09/09/08. Some 55 prostate cancer patients were given too-low doses of radiation treatment at the local Veterans Affairs hospital in the past six years, and federal investigators want to know why. AP via PhysOrg.com

2006 Veterans Suicide Rate

Suicide Rate Among Young Male Veterans Reaches Record High in 2006, Department of Veterans Affairs Reports 09/09/08. The suicide rate among young male veterans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached a record high in 2006, the latest year for which records are available, according to data released on Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs, USA Today reports. Kaisernetwork.org

Vets and Alternative Therapies

Injured Veterans Finding Relief in Alternative Therapies (Video - sorry for commerical) 09/06/08. Injured veterans of foreign wars are finding both physical and emotional recovery in yoga. Other alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, are also being used. redOrbit

Hampton VA Alert

Hampton VA patients alerted of infection complications from injections 09/06/08. PORTSMOUTH, VA. (WAVY.com) -- The Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center tells WAVY.com that its notified a group of patients, seen during the week of August 25-29, of "an increased risk of post-procedural infection."The injections were given to relieve discomfort during an orthopedic procedure. WAVY.com

Veterans' Mental Health Services

VA taking steps to reduce suicides 09/06/08. The numbers are troubling - someone dies by suicide every 17 minutes, accounting for 30,000 deaths each year in the United States. In the veterans population, male veterans are twice as likely as civilians, both male and female, to commit suicide, according to a 2007 study by Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University. The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, which includes the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center, is launching a public education campaign in Central Texas as part of a national effort to reduce suicide. Temple Daily Telegram

Telehealth: Video Technology Spares Vets Lengthy Car Trips for Mental Health Care 09/06/08. Approximately 495 Chicago-area veterans are using Veterans Health Administration outpatient clinics to receive mental health care through video technology, according to the Chicago Tribune. The "telemental health service" allows mental health specialists at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill., to remotely consult with patients at six community-based outpatient clinics. Veterans are accessing the service for help with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts, without making a long car trip that could evoke memories of dangerous roads in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, 24,000 veterans used telemental health services in the United States, and 2008 projections indicate that up to 40,000 veterans may seek this treatment. redOrbit

Veterans' Suicide Hotline Assists 55000 Callers 09/06/08. The Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline, a collaborative effort by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, received about 55,000 calls in its first year of operation. Of those, 22,000 came directly from veterans and the rest from family or friends seeking help for veterans. Nurse.com

Southern Arizona Veterans Mental Health Discussion 09/06/08. TUCSON — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today is hosting a two-hour meeting to discuss improving and expanding mental health services for veterans. The meeting is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will be held at the Palo Brea Room at the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, 2502 N. Dodge in Tucson. A video conference also will be set up with the partnership’s Sierra Vista office, 999 E. Fry Blvd., Suite 109. Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, will be joined at the event by U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee. Sierra Vista Herold

Paralympics

Decorated Army Veterans Look for Medals at Paralympics 09/06/08. Opening just two weeks after the Beijing Olympics ended, the Paralympics are designed to be a "parallel games" for athletes with a wide range of physical disabilities. The first day of competition is Sunday and athletes will use many of the same Olympic venues, with 148 countries represented and 472 medal events contested — 170 more than the Olympics. FoxNews.com

Paralympian: Time to Recruit Disabled 09/05/08. More than 60 service members who have lost limbs have been able to return to active duty status in recent years, and one of them -- a below-the-knee amputee who is about to go for the gold at the Paralympics in Beijing -- believes it's time the military considered enlisting people who already have these kinds of injuries. Military.com

See also

• USParalympic
• Paralyzed Veterans of America

'Sole Survivor' Legislation

President Bush Signs Law To Ensure Health Benefits for 'Sole Surivor Veterans' 09/03/08. President Bush on Friday signed into law legislation (HR 5825, S 2874) that will guarantee health benefits for "sole survivor" veterans who receive honorable discharges, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the Department of Defense "sole survivor" policy, the military cannot deploy in combat areas soldiers who lose all their siblings in war and must issue them honorable discharges upon request. However, veterans who previously received honorable discharges under the policy lost their health benefits because they did not fulfill their service contracts. Kaisernetwork.org

Veterans Support Groups in KC

Veterans Groups Aim To Prevent Suicides 09/02/08. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- They survived war, but more and more veterans are finding it difficult to survive life after a tour of duty.KMBC's Bev Chapman reported that there is a push at the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center to get families and veterans to take advantage of suicide prevention programs. Last year, Congress passed two bills designed to help. One of them, the Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, expanded mental health assessments and services, including a hot line for people in crisis. KMBC

Veterans Urgent Care in New Orleans

Urgent Care Center for Veterans to Open in New Orleans 09/01/08. The Department Of Veterans Affairs said the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System is opening an Urgent Care Center in New Orleans at 1601 Perdido St. on Tuesday. The center will accept veteran patients. No appointments are necessary. The center will offer care for illnesses that are not life- threatening. Services include diagnosis and treatment of mild to moderate illnesses and minor injuries. Mental health staff and a social worker will also be available to assist with evaluations, treatment and referral of urgent mental health needs. RedOrbit

Whooping Cough

Whooping cough outbreak at Pittsburgh vets clinic 09/01/08. Medical officials in Pittsburgh say staff members and some patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital are getting preventive treatment for whooping cough after an outbreak was traced to several workers at an outpatient clinic. AP