11.Spokeswoman Says VA Is Trying To Improve Claims Process. Monterey County (CA) Weekly  A "broad range of individuals and agencies across Monterey County, with some federal assists, are working to create spaces where veterans can access services, train for jobs and connect with each other." Vets can get help through VA Supportive Housing, but some vets face long waits for VA disability benefits. The Weekly added, however, that "VA overhauled operations at 12 of its offices after The Bay Citizen reported the backlog of disability claims had risen to 870,000 nationwide – despite a $300-million investment in a new computerized claims processing system and the hiring of over 2,000 new claims officers. More office overhauls are in the works, with 56 scheduled for completion by the end of 2013, according to a VA spokeswoman."

 

12.Veterans Affairs Chief Criticized Over What Some See As His Low Profile. New York Times  "At War" blog, James Dao asks, "Is Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, too cloistered from the public and the press, and perhaps even from younger veterans? That certainly is the view of some veterans advocates and some news reporters, including Time's Joe Klein, who made the case in the magazine's Swampland blog last month after Mr. Shinseki did not talk with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on the issue of military suicides." But at VA's recent hiring fair and small business conference in Detroit, Shinseki defended himself, saying he has often met with vets groups and media outlets during his time as head of VA. The executive directors of the American Legion and Student Veterans of America both said Shinseki has been accessible, but Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff "said the secretary has not been visible enough in discussing the problems of veterans or in taking responsibility for the department's well-publicized shortcomings, like long wait times for mental health care or delays in processing disability claims."

 

13.VA Hospital Recruits Mental Health Providers. NPR  A "Veterans Affairs hospital in Milwaukee has begun recruiting for additional mental health providers." The recruitment is "part of a nationwide" VA "effort to bring on about 1,600 new psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers to reduce wait times for treatment." NPR notes that VA "says it will be aggressive in recruiting candidates for the new mental health positions and hopes to have most on board within six months."

 

14.Soldiers Seeking Routine Medical Care Now Get PTSD Screening As Well. Stars And Stripes The US Army is "asking soldiers who go to the doctor for ailments such as back pain or colds to answer questions about depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in a bid to identify those who may need help." Stars And Stripes adds, "The Army expects to expand availability of the program to include all family members in the military health system over the next year...said" Col. Charles Engel, a Walter Reed National Military Medical Center doctor.

 

15.Army's Huge Culture Shift: No Shame In Mental Health Help. USA Today  The US Army's post in Fort Carson, Colorado, has developed a behavioral health strategy which embraces the idea that admitting mental health issues is not a weakness. Fort Carson tries to head off stateside problems by bringing behavioral healthcare to the combat zone. The post has had success with this approach, which was developed by Maj. Chris Ivany, Fort Carson's battalion psychiatrist. According to Sheehy, Ivany "has been called to the Pentagon to roll out a similar program" to the rest of the Army.

 

16.UnitedHealthcare Launches Blue Button Capability. Healthcare IT News   "Taking a cue from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, UnitedHealthcare has launched its own Blue Button program, enabling its plan participants to access and print their personal health records (PHRs) with the click of a mouse." Healthcare IT News quotes VA Chief Technology Officer Peter L. Levin, who said the "Blue Button initiative is a great example of public-private partnerships and open government. With Blue Button, the government created a framework that offers patients private and secure access to their data, and is a model for the private sector." Also quoted by Healthcare IT News is VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker, who said, "By the end of 2012, we think as many as 75 million people will have access to their medical information through Blue Button. We're getting a lot of adoption by private-sector organizations."

 

17.Three Families Pledge To Raise $30 Million In Aid For US Veterans.  Christian Science Monitor "Three affluent families are forming a fund with the purpose of raising $30 million to support programs that serve military veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America announced" this week. Philip Green, "president of PDG Consulting, a health-care consultancy, and his wife, Elizabeth Cobbs, chief of geriatrics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., joined with their friends Glenn and Laurie Garland and with the Jim Stimmel family to create the fund." That is according to Green, notes the Science Monitor. The Monitor adds, "In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which will operate the fund and conduct fundraising for it, the other beneficiaries include the National Military Family Association, Operation Homefront, Operation Mend, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors."

 

18.Grant Will Help Homeless Veterans In Saratoga County. Saratogian  "Soldier On, an organization that serves homeless veterans, has been awarded a $300,000 grant to provide veterans with employment training." After noting that the $300,000 comes from the US Labor Department, the Saratogian adds, "Last November, Soldier On was awarded a $1 million grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to help at-risk veterans and their families avoid falling into homelessness in the 18 New York counties. To date, this program has prevented 165 veterans from becoming homeless, has housed 154 previously homeless veterans and has served a total of 484 veterans, spouses and children."

 

19.Nassau To Offer Veterans Housing. Newsday "County Executive Edward Mangano has announced plans for Nassau's first-ever temporary housing for returning US military veterans, which will be funded through a $1.5-million grant from the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program. 'It will be much more than just housing,' Mangano said," adding, "There will also be counseling and referral services here for these veterans." Newsday adds, "HOME is the largest federal grant to local governments exclusively for affordable housing."

 

20.Downtown To Get Supportive Housing Project. Muncie (IN) Star Press "After being rejected on the south side, Muncie's first proposed 'supportive housing' project met with no opposition downtown. No one appeared against the 44-unit, $7-million apartment building planned at Wysor and Walnut streets when the Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals voted on the project recently." The US Veterans Affairs Department, Merdian Health Services, and Daveri Development Group are collaborating on the endeavor, which "would cater to people who can live independently but need supportive services, including the disabled, veterans and people at risk for homelessness."

 

21.Augusta Court Program Helps Veterans Who Are In Trouble With The Law.  Bangor (ME) Daily News  A Maine "program designed for veterans who are involved in the criminal justice system was started quietly last year before the Legislature passed and the governor in March signed a law that allows the judiciary to create a Veterans Treatment Court program." Because the "law was passed, Maine will be able to apply for federal funds this fall to begin implementing a formal program." Iraq veteran Daniel Andrews is one veteran who has already been helped by the program. Currently, "receives disability benefits" from Veterans Affairs for his post-traumatic stress disorder.

22.MicroTransponder Raises $2 Million And Reports Positive Tinnitus Clinical Trial.  Dallas Morning News  On Thursday, Dallas-based MicroTransponder "reported...positive results from an early clinical trial for a wireless neurostimulation system that treats patients with tinnitus, which is commonly known as 'constant ringing in the ears.' The privately held company also said it raised $2 million in angel funding to continue developing the tinnitus therapy known as the Serenity System." The Morning News adds, "As many as 2 million Americans suffer from severe tinnitus, according to the American Tinnitus Association, with the problem especially acute among military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan."

 

23.San Francisco Doctors Striving To Steer Dying Patients Out Of ER, Into Hospice.  San Francisco Examiner  Hospice by the Bay is a "nonprofit that provides palliative care for terminal patients." A "recent study by UC San Francisco doctors found that too often, people spend their final days" in the emergency room. In "addition to recommending the American health care system place a greater emphasis on hospice and palliative care, the study's authors also urged people to plan for the end of their lives with doctors and family members." The Examiner says the lead author of the study is Dr. Alexander Smith, a palliative care specialist at the Veterans Affairs hospital in San Francisco.

 

24.Durham VA Seeks To Improve Labeling Of Investigational Drugs To Improve Safety.  US Medicine  Inadequate "or confusing labeling and packaging sometimes can make" it difficult to administer the correct drug in the correct dose to patients. To "remedy that problem, the investigational drug team at the Durham VA Medical Center took a long, hard look at their storage and handling practices and, immediately, recognized opportunities to improve patient safety." Jamie Brown, an investigational drug specialist at the Durham VA "recently presented the team's findings and new procedures at the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Midyear Meeting in New Orleans. 'I received a very positive response to the presentation,' he said," adding that the Durham VA is "promoting universal best practices that apply to investigational drugs as well as pharmacy."

 

25.Post-Op Delirium May Impair Thinking For Year. MedPage Today  "Developing delirium shortly after cardiac surgery may affect cognitive function through the first postoperative year, researchers found." MedPage Today, which notes that some study subjects were patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital, adds, "The study was supported by grants from the Harvard Older Americans Independence Center, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and by an NIH Mid-Career Investigator Award and an NIH Translational Research in Aging fellowship."

 

26.Actor Gary Sinise Visits Veterans At Augusta VA. Augusta (GA) Chronicle  On Thursday, actor Gary Sinise shook "hands with veterans and active-duty service members" at Veterans Affairs' hospital in Augusta. Sinise, "perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Dan Taylor in the movie Forrest Gump, was in town for a free concert Thursday night with his Lt. Dan Band at Fort Gordon's Barton Field. The stop at the VA is one of several Sinise has made in Augusta in advance of the performance and one of many he regularly makes throughout the year at stateside and international military installations."

 

27.Program Arranges Retreats For Military Families That Have Been Separated By War. CBS Evening News   Project Sanctuary in Colorado provides an opportunity for "husbands, wives and children once separated by war" to "learn to be a family again." The program, which has a long waiting list, arranges a "week-long retreat for troops and their families." Private donations and fundraising efforts by Project Sanctuary pay for the retreats.

 

28.Microsoft Helps Startups Create Business Connecting With Kinect.  McClatchy

 

29.Summit Offers Help For Women Veterans. Decatur (GA) Champion

 

30.Marine Doing 1 Million Push-Ups To Help Veterans. WTVJ-TV

 

31.VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 7, 2012:

            July 25, 2012.  The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a joint hearing titled “Back from the Battlefield: DOD and VA Collaboration to Assist Service Members Returning to Civilian Life.”  10:00 AM; 2118 Rayburn HOB

 

            July 18, 2012. HVAC, Disability and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, will hold a hearing entitled: “Obtaining Benefits for Military Sexual Trauma.”  Time and location TBD.