1.      Shinseki Announces $41.9 Million In Grants To House Homeless Veterans. In a Business Wire release (10/1), VA Secretary Shinseki announced that 40 states will share over $41.9 million "in grants to community groups to provide 2,568 beds for homeless Veterans this year. '"These investments will provide transitional beds to Veterans who have served honorably, but for various reasons now find themselves in a downward spiral toward despair and homelessness. These grants wouldn't have happened without the extraordinary partnerships forged with community organizers,' said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. 'These investments will provide transitional beds to Veterans who have served honorably, but for various reasons now find themselves in a downward spiral toward despair and homelessness." The program provides grants and per diem payments to assist public and non-profit organizations run supportive housing and service centers for homeless veterans.

2.      Shinseki's Presence At White House Event For Departing Emanuel.  Main Justice (10/2), in reporting that, despite their differences, Attorney General Eric Holder attended a White House event for departing chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, mentions that VA Secretary Shinseki was among other Cabinet members "seated in the front row" at the Friday morning event.

3.      Study: Virginia Veterans Lack Access To Mental Health Services. The Norfolk-based Virginian-Pilot (9/30, Reilly) reported that "a new study says many across Virginia often have trouble getting the services they need, especially adequate mental health treatment. The study, released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, is the first in recent memory to look comprehensively at veterans' needs in the commonwealth. While most of its findings came as no surprise to the state officials who commissioned it, the research will go a long way in helping to secure money to better serve veterans, said Catherine Wilson, executive director of the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program." The survey, carried out by Virginia tech researchers, identified as the most under-served the state's southwestern portion, where a new $900,000 federal grant will fund new programs.

4.      VA Contracts Issued.  TCMNet (10/1) lists contracts that federal agencies have awarded to California companies, including four from the Department of Veterans Affairs. They vary in size from $4.29 million from the National Cemetery Administration to "raise, realign, reset and clean flat markers" in Honolulu, to a $62,441 contract for hemodynamic monitoring systems at the Leavenworth, Kansas VA Heartland Network.

5.      Joint Chiefs Chairman Urges Community Vet Support For Returning Vets. The AP (10/1, Christie) reports that, speaking Friday in Tucson, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "says the military continues to struggle with high suicide rates, and returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans need more help from local communities in getting over the stress of deployments." Admiral Mike Mullen "says hundreds of thousands of returning vets have at least some level of post-traumatic stress," adding that the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments "are working to help them but that local communities are even more important to their recovery. Mullen says communities need to reach out to service members as they return into civilian life after years of deployments overseas."

6.      Wilkes-Barre Conference Will Focus On Military Families. The Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune (10/1) announces that a National Family Week half-day conference in Wilkes-Barre, "When Families Reunite: Overcoming Trauma Issues after Military Service," will be presented on November 17 by the Family Service Association of Wyoming Valley in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Plains Twp. and the Vet Center in Scranton.

7.      Memphis VAMC Will Host Women Veterans Conference. The Memphis Daily News (10/4, Shoptaw) reports that on October 16 the Christian Brothers University will host a "Raising the Flag: Women Veterans Conference" designed to help women veterans smoothly transition to a non-military lifestyle and will provide a forum to support the professional and personal growth of women veterans. Besides the university, other sponsors for the event are Vet Center Memphis and the Memphis VAMC Women's Clinic.Economists

8.      Revises Upwards Veterans' Health Costs, Makes Recommendations To Hill Panel. The website for Insurance News Net (10/1) posts the testimony of Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes, authors of "The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict," to the House Veterans Affairs Committee revising their costs estimates and recommending the creation of a trust fund and other measures. The testimony states that the VA "does not have the capacity to fully estimate its long-term obligations, and even with the best will in the world, this may result in insufficient funding." It recommends that, to better forecast regional impact and infrastructure needs, the agency be "directed to work with the Institute of Medicine to develop a better system of forecasting the amounts and types of resources needed to meet veterans' needs in 30 years or more, when their needs are likely to peak." 

9.      Veterans Affairs Chairman Proposes Trust Fund For Veterans' Health Costs. In continuing coverage, Medical News Today (10/1) summarizes several developments on VA health care, including the call by House Veterans Affairs chairman Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) for the establishment of a trust fund to pay for veterans' health care, revised estimates by economists that health costs for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans could exceed $900 billion, and the VA's opposition, citing privacy concerns and the potential to make VA employees less wiling to report mistakes, to a bill that would require the agency to post medical quality assurance documents online.

10.    Canadian Military Widows Hold Protests On Agent Orange Compensation. The Global Toronto (10/1) reports that on Friday, "Widows of soldiers affected by the deadly chemical Agent Orange held a protest outside" a New Brunswick armed forces base where Agent Orange was tested in the 1960s and 1970s. "The group Widows on a Warpath are fighting against what they believe is unfair compensation for the victims of chemical spraying." The Canadian government agreed in 2007 to pay $20,000 to families of service members who before February 2006 fell ill or died from sprayings there; the widows' group wants compensation for everyone affected by Agent Orange.

11.    DeBakey VAMC Doctor Receives Community Choice Award. The Pasadena (TX) Citizen (10/2) reports that Dr. Aimée D. Garcia, director of the Wound Clinic and Consult Service at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, was one of 16 medical experts in the United States" chosen by the QuantiaMD community to receive its Community Choice Award for "innovation and excellence in sharing knowledge."

12.    Brooklyn Veterans Cemetery Sees Heavily Flooding. The Gothamist (10/2, Del Signore) reports, "As a result of the heavy rainfall this morning, over 100 graves are under water at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, where grave sites date back to the Civil War era. A cemetery spokesperson 'appeared to be unaware of the flooding' after receiving a call from PIX 11 News, and told a reporter that a 'major draining operation has been going on for the past year at the national gravesite.'" According to the TV station, no clean-up crews were in evidence.

13.    VA "Green Routine" Marks Energy Awareness Month.  Veterans Today Network (10/1, Leon) posts a VA "Green Routine" statement marking the start of Energy Awareness Month. The statement notes that, "When all of us at VA improve our energy performance, it saves taxpayer dollars, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, protects the environment and natural resources, and contributes to our national security." It also encourages VA staff to "Go green by stepping up your efforts to turn off lights and monitors when not in use, recycling more, and always printing and copying double-sided. Get creative about promoting sustainability in your office. Take energy efficiency home, too. If every American home replaced just one incandescent light with a light that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light three million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent nine billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year."

14.    Astronaut Lovell Dedicates Federal Health Care Center Uniting DoD, VA.  WMAQ-TV Chicago (10/1) reports, "Capt. James Lovell on Friday cut the ribbon on a new North Chicago medical facility bearing his name, calling it a place of 'initiative, ingenuity, innovation and teamwork.' The $130 million Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center combines the services of the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes." At the dedication ceremony, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that merging the VA and Navy medical facilities "was almost as if we were asking for the United States to merge with some foreign country." The account adds that, besides the remodeled and expanded North Chicago medical campus, the Lovell Center includes an East Campus at nearby Naval Station Great Lakes and community-based outpatient clinics in Evanston, McHenry and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
     An Armed Forces Press Service release (10/1, Miles) reports, "The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments took a big step today toward closer collaboration with the dedication of a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated health-care center, in North Chicago, Ill. The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center combines manpower and resources from Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes and the North Chicago VA Medical Center, according to center spokesman. The center will serve both active-duty servicemembers -- including Navy recruits attending boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes -- as well as military family members, retirees and veterans. The VA's Patrick Sullivan is the Lovell Center's director; Navy Capt. David Beardsley is deputy director. VA Secretary Shinseki last year praised first-of-its-kind center; speaking to the West Point Society of Chicago in March, he called the Lovell Center "the flagship, collaborative standard for intra-service, intra-government cooperation, a health care model for others to emulate, and a new facility to better serve the men and women who have earned the best care we can provide." VA under secretary for health Dr. Robert Petzel represented his agency at the dedication.
     A release from Sen. Richard Durbin (D0IL), carried by the eNews Park Forest (10/1), notes that Durbin had "authored the provision authorizing the merger of the North Chicago VA Medical Center and Naval Station Great Lakes Health Clinic to create the Lovell Federal Health Care Center in 2009 after first introducing legislation in 2008 to merge the facilities." The provision was included in the FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.

15.    Specialized VA Clinic Will Open In Corpus Christi Next Year. The Corpus Christi Caller Times (10/1, Savage) reports, "Local military veterans can expect to save the time and hassle of traveling to San Antonio for specialized medical appointments. A new outpatient clinic that offers medical care for cardiology, ophthalmology and other specific care is expected to open a year from now in Corpus Christi." A VA spokesman announced that the government signed an agreement Thursday for a developer to build a 32,950-square-foot clinic near the Veterans Affairs general clinic on Old Brownsville Road.

16.    Stand Down Events Draw Big In Big Sky Country. The Libby, Montana-based Western News (9/30, Fuqua) previews this weekend's Veterans' Stand Down there, speaking with organizers of the annual event. Allen Erickson, a Vietnam-era veteran who organized the first Stand Down in 1999, says that he started the project "out of my frustration" from struggles to get health care he needed for an Agent Orange-related cancer. HE says that local veterans' groups wondered if there would be enough interest in such an event, only to see the first Stand Down draw about 1,800 veterans. John Davis, rural health-care coordinator for the sponsoring Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center, notes the popularity of western state Stand Down events, noting that 1,600 people attended one in Post Falls, Idaho the previous weekend, and 1,400 came to Colville, Washington the weekend before that, and over 600 to Wenatchee, Washington.

17.    Woman Sought Who Apparently Walked Away From Madison VAMC. The Madison, Wisconsin-based The Capital Times (10/1, Novak) reports, "Authorities are looking for Deborah M. Eddy, a 48-year-old town of Blooming Grove woman who has been missing since Tuesday. Deborah M. Eddy was reported missing on Thursday, after she apparently walked away from the VA Hospital in Madison." A county sheriff's office spokesperson said that Eddy "suffers from mental health issues." WISC-TV Madison, WI (10/1) also carries the story.

18.    Bruhn Promoted At Fargo VAMC. The Fargo (ND) In-Forum (10/2) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed Julie Bruhn as associate director for patient care at the Fargo VA Medical Center and Affiliated Clinics. A registered nurse, Bruhn came to the VA in 1979 and "has held a number of nursing and leadership positions at the Fargo VA, Veterans Integrated Service Network and Veterans Administration nationally."

19.    Gulf Coast Veterans Health System Offers Flu Shots.  WMBB-TV Panama City, Florida (10/1, Hilsheimer) reports that flu vaccine "is available to all eligible and enrolled veterans at any of the Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System facilities. Veterans seeking a flu shot should visit one of the VAGCVHCS facilities along the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Miss., Mobile, Ala., Pensacola, Fla., Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. and Panama City, Fla."

20.    Before Dying In Accident, Segway Company Owner Donated 1,000 Units To Veterans. The Washington D.C. Examiner (10/1, Santo) reports that James Heselden, the late Segway company owner who died last weekend after driving his Segway off a cliff and into a river, "was about to be honored for donating 1,000 Segways to US veterans>" through Disability Rights Advocates for Technology. That group sponsors the Segs4Vets program, which provides Segway transporters to help injured veterans become mobile. The first units are to be delivered to 48 veterans on October 6 at the Marine Corps War Memorial.

21.    Proponents Of Plain Language In Government Documents Hail Senate Action.  CMIO (10/1, Stevens) reports that the Center for Plain Language this week "lauded the U.S. Senate for passing the Plain Writing Act of 2010. The bill requires the federal government to write documents, such as tax returns, federal college aid applications and Veterans Administration forms in simple language." The Senate bill now goes back to the House, which in March passed a different version of the measure.

22.    California Man Hikes To Raise Funds For Elks' Veterans Assistance. The Hemet, California-based Valley Chronicle (10/1, Helton) reports that a local man will walk the 37.8 miles between Elks lodges in Hemet and Riverside, California because he "he wants to raise money for the veterans assistance provided by Hemet Elks Lodge No. 1740. He said he came up with the idea after he saw The Moving Wall in Fontana." Not a veteran himself, Jim Winget, 68, "originally considered making the Loma Linda veterans hospital his destination, but he didn't want to hear jokes about how he would need the hospital after the walk."