Why is the VA still forcing veterans for in person comp exams during pandemic?

KARE 11 Investigates: VA continues high-risk exams during COVID-19 crisis

KARE 11 News
A.J. Lagoe, Steve Eckert
April 3, 2020

But veterans across the country, some of them high-risk for coronavirus infection, say they’re still being ordered to attend in-person benefits exams with VA contractors.

ST PAUL, Minn — “I was told I needed to go into New York City next week to get an in-person benefits exam,” said a 30-year-old Stamford, Connecticut Army Veteran. “I said, ‘I can’t do that for obvious reasons.’”

That veteran spoke on-camera and on-the-record but asked not to be named over fears it would negatively impact his benefits claim. He’s part of a new lawsuit that states the Department of Veterans Affairs is risking veterans’ lives during the COVID-19 crisis by forcing veterans to attend pension exams or risk losing their benefits.

“It’s an unnecessary risk,” said attorney Harold Hoffman who filed the lawsuit against the VA. “It’s not just risky, there is no reason for the risk!” he added.

In order to limit coronavirus exposure for vulnerable veterans, the Veterans Benefits Administration closed its 56 regional offices, including the St. Paul office on March 19th.
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Veteran Service Groups join forces to insure veterans get their relief checks

Senators, VSOs to VA: Work with IRS to ensure all veterans get federal $1,200 relief checks

Connecting Vets
ABBIE BENNETT
APRIL 03, 2020

Not all veterans or their beneficiaries file annual taxes. But the government plans to primarily use prior tax filings to determine eligibility and where to send the federal coronavirus relief payments.

Leading Veterans Affairs lawmakers in the Senate and top national Veteran Service Organizations are calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that all eligible veterans can receive federal relief checks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Senators Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who lead the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, urged the VA Under Secretary for Benefits Dr. Paul Lawrence to create a plan between VA and the IRS to ensure veterans and other VA beneficiaries who don't have to file tax returns still get the checks without additional red tape.

VSOs representing millions of veterans nationwide also sent a letter to VA and the Treasury Department urging them to take "whatever actions necessary to identify and electronically pay" the relief to veterans who do not file tax returns. Those groups included: Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, Fleet Reserve Association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project, Blinded Veterans of America and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
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Miami VA hospital rationing medical masks...but USAID sent them overseas?

Report: Federal Agency Shipped Face Masks Overseas as Veterans Affairs Hospital Rationed Them

National Review
By MAIREAD MCARDLE
April 3, 2020

A federal agency reportedly shipped face masks overseas from a Miami warehouse even as a nearby Veterans Affairs hospital was rationing them due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Boxes of N95 protective masks for use by medical field personnel in New Rochelle, New York, March 17, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had a warehouse of face masks sitting unused in Miami while a Veterans Affairs hospital in the city was telling its health care workers to use the same face mask for an entire week, Fox News reported.

Later, USAID exported the masks overseas. Since then, however, the administration has reportedly halted USAID shipments of personal protective equipment out of the country.
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Nurses warn "significant deficiencies in VA readiness to respond to the coronavirus epidemic"

VA staffers sound alarm over shortages in staffing, equipment

Military Times
Leo Shane III
April 3, 2020

Nurse Irma Westmoreland said the Veterans Affairs hospital where she works has already run out of paper gowns and is warning staffers to ration their use of linens out of concerns the facility may run out of protective equipment for use on a daily basis.

Members of National Nurses United protest between shifts at the Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland, Calif., on March 23, 2020. A similar protest is scheduled for next week at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Brooklyn, to raise concerns about a lack of resources for staff to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Courtesy of NNU)

The site — the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. — has only had five confirmed cases of coronavirus so far.

“When we get a surge of cases, where will we be?” said Westmoreland, a 30-year employee at VA and vice president of National Nurses United, which represents 12,000 nurses at 23 different VA sites across the country. “I’m afraid for my co-workers and I’m afraid for my family.”

Union officials are raising concerns this week about what they see as significant deficiencies in VA readiness to respond to the coronavirus epidemic, which has already killed more than 6,000 Americans.

On Monday, NNU members from the Brooklyn VA facility in New York City are planning a between-shifts protest of conditions there, promising no disruption in care but also more public awareness of the problems staff are facing.
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FBI and the Department of Veterans Affairs IG agents arrested ex-doctor for sexual assault on veteran patient

Former Veterans Affairs doctor in W.Va. accused of incapacitating, molesting patient

By WHSV newsroom
Apr 02, 2020

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WHSV) — A doctor who formerly worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Beckley, West Virginia, has been charged with depriving a veteran of his civil rights under the color of law.

Dr. Jonathan Yates, 51, was arrested on Thursday at his home by Special Agents of the FBI and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the Bluefield, Virginia Police Department.

That's according to the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors say the charge stems from an incident that happened while Dr. Yates was working at the VA in February 2019.

According to a criminal complaint, Yates sexually molested a patient during an exam.

The complaint says Yates also caused the veteran he was examining severe pain and numbness and temporarily incapacitated him by cracking the patient's neck after the patient explicitly requested him not to do so.

The complaint says while the patient was incapacitated, Yates sexually molested him again.
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Disabled Korean War Air Force veteran being kicked out of rehab...during COVID-19

UPDATE

FOX 46 gets results for Air Force veteran almost kicked out of rehab center

CORNELIUS, N.C. - An elderly Korean War veteran set to be kicked out of his rehab center Thursday, despite a statewide stay-at-home order, can now stay put, thanks to FOX 46.

“Thank you FOX 46 for helping,” said the Air Force veteran’s granddaughter, Kelly Wimmer. “It has meant the world to us.” read it here

Elderly veteran to be kicked out of rehab facility, improperly, despite COVID-19

FOX 46 Charlotte
By Matt Grant
April 1, 2020

Hummel, 88, a Korean War veteran, was transferred at the beginning of March from Lake Norman Regional Medical Center to Autumn Care in Cornelius to recover from pneumonia, Wimmer said. The Air Force veteran and lung cancer survivor is an amputee and confined to a wheelchair. Unless something changes, Gorman says her dad will be discharged on Thursday, April 2.

CORNELIUS, N.C. - Despite North Carolina being under a 'Stay-at-Home' order, an elderly veteran in poor health is about to be kicked out of his rehabilitation facility in the middle of a global pandemic because of an insurance payment dispute.

“It’s been hard,” Andrea Gorman, the daughter of Sanford Hummel, said in tears.
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At least 185 VA employees had tested positive for coronavirus

VA projects high levels of employee absenteeism as coronavirus response ramps up

Federal News Network
By Nicole Ogrysko
March 30, 2020

At least 185 VA employees had tested positive for coronavirus as of late last week, Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said Friday from the House floor.

As many as 40% of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs may be absent from work — due to their own illness or fear of getting sick — during a severe coronavirus outbreak, the agency estimated.

The figure was one of several “planning assumptions” in the department’s coronavirus response plan, which VA made public late last week.

“Public health measures of temporarily closing schools, declaring other closures and quarantining household contacts of infected individuals are likely to increase rates of absenteeism due to employees with school-aged children,” the Veterans Health Administration wrote.

VA’s Office of Inspector General, whose staff spent a week making unannounced visits to 58 medical centers, 125 community-based outpatient clinics and 54 community living centers around the country, began noting higher-than-normal levels of absenteeism among the agency’s staff in mid-March.

The department announced Sunday it would officially begin that responsibility, with the opening of 50 beds to non-veteran and non-coronavirus patients in New York City.

Individual states must ask for VA backup assistance through FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center and their own Department of Health and Human Services regional emergency coordinators. Once the request has been issued, VA will decide whether it has the capacity to respond in a local region.

VA already deployed some of its mobile vet centers units in mid-March, the department said Monday. VA employees volunteer to deploy with these mobile units, which serve as an extension to the department’s brick-and-mortar medical facilities and community clinics across the country — especially during major hurricanes, wildfires, mass shootings and other disasters.
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Virus spikes throughout the VA...but the VA is helping civilians? Seriously?

Reminder: The VA was not able to keep up with the needs of our veterans, so they pushed to be able to send them into civilian healthcare. Now, with COVID-19, they are sending doctors and nurses to help civilians at the same time they still do not have what they need to take care of veterans! Pay attention people because none of this makes sense and should outrage everyone!

Novel coronavirus cases among veterans spike as testing expands through VA network

ABC News
By Quinn Owen
March 30, 2020

A federal watchdog report released last week found VA hospital supplies of medicine used to treat critically ill patients "may be insufficient."

The number of veterans testing positive for novel coronavirus has spiked to 1,166, the Department of Veterans Affairs reported Monday, as thousands more seeking treatment get tested at VA hospitals across the country.

On Friday, the agency had reported about half as many positive tests. The data from the agency shows that its cases mirror trends throughout the U.S., with VA hospitals in New York, Michigan and Louisiana reporting high numbers of confirmed patients.

Over the weekend, the VA announced it was opening its doors to non-veteran patients in New York City to help ease the coronavirus response burden. The activation is part of the VA's "Fourth Mission," to serve as the nation's emergency back-up health care system.

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"And with this prayer I'm hoping that we, can be unbroken" by PTSD

Bon Jovi thanks Prince Harry for 'bringing a light' to PTSD sufferers as they release video for charity single recorded with the Invictus Games Choir

Daily Mail
By CHLOE MORGAN FOR MAILONLINE
30 March 2020

Prince Harry released video for charity single 'Unbroken' recorded in February
Recorded with Bon Jovi and Invictus Games Choir to raise awareness of PTSD
Jon and 12 choir members seen rehearsing and singing as one glorious group

Prince Harry has released the video for charity single 'Unbroken' he recorded with US rocker Bon Jovi and the Invictus Games Choir to raise awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The special version of the Bon Jovi track, re-recorded last month at Abbey Road Studios, is available to buy and stream now.

All proceeds will go to the Invictus Games Foundation, of which The Duke of Sussex is Patron, in support of the recovery and rehabilitation of international wounded, injured or sick military personnel.

The Choir and Jon recorded the single together in just two days, and in the video, Jon and the 12 choir members are seen rehearsing and singing together as a glorious group.
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Unbroken

Bon Jovi

I was born to be of service

Camp Lejeune just felt like home

I had honor, I found purpose

Sir, yes, sir

That's what I know

They sent us to a place I never heard of weeks before

When you're nineteen, it ain't hard to sleep

In the desert on God's floor

Close your eyes, stop counting sheep

You hear them bootcamp anymore

We were taught to shoot our rifles

Then in one, then side by side

Thought we'd be made as liberators

In a thousand year old fight

I got this painful ringing in my ear

From an IED last night

But no lead light humvee war machine, could save my sergeants life

Three more soldiers, six civilians

Need these words to come out right

God of mercy, God of light

Seek your children from this life

Here these words, this humble plea

For I have seen the suffering

And with this prayer I'm hoping

That we, can be unbroken

It's 18 months now, I've been stateside

With this medal on my chest

But there are things I can't remember

And there are things I won't forget

I lie awake at night with dreams of devils shouldn't see

I wanna scream, but I can't breathe

And Christ, I am sweating through these sheets

Where's my brothers? Where's my country?

Where's my how things used to be?

God of mercy, God of light

Seek your children from this life

Here these words, this humble plea

For I have seen the suffering

And with this prayer I'm hoping

That we, can be unbroken

My service dogs done more for me

Then the medication would

There ain't no angel that is coming to save me

But even if they could

Today, 22, would die from suicide

Just like yesterday, they're gone

I live my life for each tomorrow

So their memories will live on

Once we were boys, and we were strangers

Now we're brothers and we're men

Someday you'll ask me, was it worth it to be of service in the end?

Well, the blessing, and the curses, yeah, I'd do it all again

Whoa-oh

Whoa-oh

Whoa-oh

Whoa-oh

Whoa-oh

Whoa-oh (Whoa)

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Jon Bon Jovi

Unbroken lyrics © Bon Jovi Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Int. Ltd.

Office of the Inspector General VA review shows only some unprepared for COVID-19

The Inspector General checked on VA's coronavirus response. Here's what it found.

Connecting Vets
ABBIE BENNETT
MARCH 26, 2020

A watchdog agency checked in on the Department of Veterans Affairs' response to COVID-19, including screening processes and pandemic readiness, and they found some areas lacking.

Within two days of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus spread a pandemic, the Veterans Health Administration, which cares for about 9 million veterans, began screening processes to protect against infection.

VA also began preparing for its fourth mission -- to serve as a last line of defense for Americans, not just veterans, during health crises.

About a week after VA began screening for the virus, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigators launched an inquiry to evaluate how VA was performing, including unannounced visits to hospitals, clinics and nursing homes -- while working to ensure those visits wouldn't put veterans or staff at risk.

Screening
At the 58 medical centers OIG investigators visited, they found:

About 71 percent had adequate screening processes in place, while about 28 percent had room for improvement and one -- the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System -- had inadequate screening for potential infection because staff was not asking all of the required screening questions.

At the 121 community outpatient clinics OIG investigators visited, they found:

121 (97 percent) had screening in place, though four did not have any screening and visitors were asked no COVID-19 questions. At the 54 VA nursing homes investigators visited after VA announced a no-visitors policy, they found:

Nine nursing homes were still allowing visitors.

Testing
Almost all of the 237 medical facilities investigators visited were collecting COVID-19 specimens for testing, but none of those facilities could process them on site. Some referred those who needed testing to county or state health departments.
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COVID-19 Veterans in the news

Veteran news during Coronavirus

V.A. Criticized for Effort to Keep Some Veterans Away From Private Care During Outbreak

New York Times
By Jennifer Steinhauer
March 25, 2020

By Wednesday morning, the White House sought to correct the impression that the department was putting a pause on the Mission Act.

Robert L. Wilkie, the secretary of veterans affairs.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — An effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to prevent some veterans from seeking health care outside its centers drew heavy criticism from lawmakers and a vocal Fox News ally of the president, who suggested the department’s bureaucracy could undermine a signature program of President Trump’s term.

That program, known as the Mission Act, permits veterans to seek primary care and mental health services outside the department’s system if they can prove they must drive at least 30 minutes to a Department of Veterans Affairs facility. The network of private providers and urgent care centers had been slowly expanding this year as those standards went into effect.

But concerns arose that at-risk veterans seeking outside care could expose themselves to the coronavirus or tax strained private health care resources.
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The VA Told Employees to Keep Coming to Work – Now Several Have the Coronavirus

Voice of San Diego

“It just feels like no one is looking out for us,” one of the employees said. Voice of San Diego is withholding the names of individual employees because they fear retaliation from their employer.

Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego say they’re not being allowed to work remotely and have been required to use personal leave in order to quarantine themselves at home – even as several employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and many others await test results.

Voice of San Diego spoke with more than a dozen employees from multiple departments in the regional VA.

Employees in departments like mental health and social work, which are doing most of their work by phone and by video, have been asked to come in, despite employee requests to work remotely. Employees who wanted to quarantine or were told by their doctor to do so said they were forced into an unappealing dilemma: Either use annual leave or take time off unpaid, or come into the office to work.
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Army says more than 9,000 retired medics, nurses, and docs want to help with the COVID-19 response

Task and Purpose
The U.S. Army said Thursday that more than 9,000 retired soldiers in healthcare fields had expressed interest in coming back on active duty to help with the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"The initial response has been very positive," the service said in an emailed statement.

The Army sent notifications on Wednesday to more than 800,000 former soldiers to gauge their willingness to help with the response to COVID-19 as cases have surged over the past week in the United States.
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Hospitals, health centers, veterans to get relief in coronavirus stimulus bill

Roll Call

A health care professional applies a swab at a drive-thru coronavirus testing facility for residents who have an order from a provider on Quincy Street in Arlington, Va., on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Impact on veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, would receive $19.6 billion — including $3.1 billion to bolster IT operations and telehealth — along with additional authorities tied to expanded veteran assistance and worker pay.
The VA serves as the back-up medical system for the nation’s hospitals and is already aiding facilities in the New York City area.

The VA has confirmed 365 veteran cases as of Wednesday, with four deaths.

The department is separately proposing to suspend routine referrals to private doctors as laid out under a 2018 law, according to a memo sent to Hill staff Tuesday. VA spokeswoman Christina Mandreucci said the policy aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines to defer elective procedures.
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COVID-19 and veterans in the news

COVID-19 hitting veterans in good ways as well as bad

UPDATE: Vietnam veteran left behind by COVID-19 panic
Chicago Now
UPDATE: After suffering another heart attack, the doctors decided that the operation was no longer elective, but necessary. He went into surgery this morning and is doing okay.

Lou Ciesla, a Vietnam Air Force veteran, may need critical heart surgery, but, sorry, Lou, because coronavirus patients are expected to flood hospitals, even though they're not there yet, your surgery has been knocked to the back of the line. It's now defined as "elective."

Family of Vietnam veteran and retired Milwaukee firefighter, 66, say he 'died alone' of coronavirus as his loved ones sat in quarantine
Daily Mail

Lawrence Riley was a Navy veteran and his son Elvaughn was inspired to enlist after him. Lawrence Riley, 66, died on Thursday, March 19, in Milwaukee

He fell ill with a fever five days before and only tested positive for the coronavirus two days before his death
Riley's wife, daughter and one of his sons are still in quarantine in their home and cannot grieve with the rest of the family
The Navy vet who served in the Vietnam War has been described as an 'icon'
He also served as a Milwaukee firefighter from 1978 to 1990
Wisconsin has 488 coronavirus cases and five deaths
Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

Veterans Answer the Call of Duty for COVID-19-Vulnerable Vets
Spectrum News

A Vets4Vets volunteer appears in this image from March 2020. (Victoria Maranan/Spectrum News)

“We realized that a significant proportion of our members and even veterans and families that are not members of our post in the local area are over 70 to 75 years old," said Buda Veterans Alliance's Bruce White. "And by definition, they need to be protected.”

So veterans in Buda, Kyle and Creedmoor stepped up and found a solution.

“The Vets4Vets really is a culmination of veterans setting all other things aside saying, ‘We are still one family,’”said veteran volunteer Cassaundra Melgar-C'd Baca. “We are gonna do the same thing we did in the military. We’re gonna pick up our bags, find those in need and take care of the problem.”

Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan lost Marine veteran brother to COVID-19

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan says coronavirus killed her Marine brother

Fox News
By Robert Gearty
March 24, 2020

“THIS is why we must #StayHome,” Flanagan wrote. “If you feel fine, that’s great. But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public. COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you.”

A man who died of the coronavirus in Tennessee over the weekend had served in the Marines and was the older brother of Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan.

She shared the sad news in an Instagram post Sunday night, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.

“To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death,” she wrote. “But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father and husband.”
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Nurse at Boston VA Hospital has Coronavirus should be a reminder to behave and think about others

Doctors and nurses are risking their lives taking care of everyone who needs them, including selfish people who did not think about anyone but themselves! Stop making them pay for your lack of concern for others!

VA Boston Nurse In Brockton Tests Positive For The Coronavirus

WBZ 4 News
March 21, 2020

On Friday, nine Brigham and Women’s hospital employees and 10 Tufts Medical Center employees had tested positive for the coronavirus, as well as one at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence.

BROCKTON (CBS) — A Veterans Affairs Boston (VA Boston) nurse at their Brockton campus tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, according to VA Boston.

People who might have had contact with the nurse are being notified, VA Boston said in a news release. The nurse is now at home recovering.

VA Boston said employees are now teleworking, and emergency medical procedures are being performed only when necessary. Elective procedures have been postponed and they are screening veterans and employees for symptoms before they enter VA buildings.
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Older veterans, a patient population that is among the most vulnerable to infection.

Veterans Affairs' staffing shortage raises concerns amid coronavirus outbreak

CNN
By Zachary Cohen
March 14, 2020

Older veterans at risk
Most concerning are staffing shortages at facilities that serve a high number of older veterans, a patient population that is among the most vulnerable to infection.

Washington (CNN)

A chronic staffing shortage across the Department of Veterans Affairs is fueling new concerns that lives could be put at risk as the country's largest integrated health care system confronts the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Data released in August revealed 49,000 vacant positions across the department, which employs more than 390,000 people. While the agency's budget has since increased, tens of thousands of jobs remain unfilled.

"It could end up killing people," one VA official who works for a regional system said, referring to the likelihood that medical personnel at its 1,243 health care facilities across the country will be overwhelmed by a significant rise in patients.

Earlier this month, the VA confirmed the first case in its system. That veteran is currently being treated for coronavirus at a VA facility in Palo Alto, California.

Fifteen other cases, either confirmed or presumed to be positive, have since surfaced at VA facilities in Nevada, Louisiana, Washington state, Georgia, South Dakota and Colorado.
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Remember a lot of older veterans are not online. The phone is their lifeline!

UPDATE Media started to pay attention...

Coronavirus isolation dangerous for veterans with PTSD, Kentucky advocates warn
Louisville Courier Journal...April 3!

“Isolation in the veteran community is, in fact, a killer,” said Harrell, an Iraq combat veteran.

Veterans who struggle with PTSD, suicidal thoughts or depression are especially vulnerable during the pandemic, he said. read it here

UPDATE Calls to veteran crisis hotline up 12 percent during COVID-19 outbreak, Wilkie tells VSOs

“The isolation required now was a key part of my question,” Chenelly said. “How do we counteract the negative effects of that? How many veterans will take their own lives because of this isolation now? That’s a big reason we exist -- to keep them connected to make sure they don’t feel alone.”

Calls to veteran crisis hotline up 12 percent during COVID-19 outbreak, Wilkie tells VSOs
Here is the link

Isolated Veterans Need Help During COVID-19

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 14, 2020

The Coronavirus or COVID-19 is now in 49 states. It is wise for older people to isolate, since this hits us harder. Even worse if you have health issues. The problem with this is that older veterans face something most are not talking about and that is what isolation does to them.

Over all these years, the one thing experts keep stressing when dealing with PTSD, is that veterans get out with peers, join groups and spend time with others. We know that the majority of known cases of veteran suicides are still in the older veteran population. We also know that when they do spend time with other veterans, they help one another heal. Knowing you are not alone, is comforting and healing.

This is where you come in! If you know a veteran who has to isolate during this crisis, pick up the phone and call them. Do not just do it once, but spend a couple of minutes a day reaching out to them and you will change their whole day.

Remember a lot of older veterans are not online. The phone is their lifeline!

It will also give you an opportunity to know how their mood is. They may be passing off depression as nothing to worry about, and they may not even notice it themselves.

Offer to go to the store for them so they do not run out of supplies, especially toilet paper, which is insanely hard to find right now. If you cook or go out to eat, ask them if there is anything you can bring them. You do not even have to go into their house, and it may be wiser to not so that you do not expose them to whatever you were exposed to.

You'll be surprised how much little gestures of kindness can do to change the life of someone you care about!

If you are the isolated veteran, most of you are spending time watching TV. Stop watching news all day long. Stop watching war movies or with violence in them. Find comedies to lift your spirits. If you have hobbies, DO THEM! Keep busy and tackle projects you have put off.

Sterling, Cincinnati-based company paying $1.85 million under VA False Claims Act

Outpatient Clinics Agrees to Pay $1.85 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Concerning Veterans’ Wait Times

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 12, 2020

The Justice Department announced today that Sterling Medical Associates Inc. (Sterling) will pay $1.85 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it failed to schedule veterans’ medical appointments timely at two outpatient clinics in Minnesota, resulting in the submission of false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Sterling is a Cincinnati-based company that provides various services in the healthcare industry, including staffing, departmental operation, and outpatient clinic operation.

“We expect companies doing business with the government to comply with their contractual obligations, particularly when they relate to the health of our veterans,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The Department is committed to ensuring that our veterans receive the timely medical care that they need and deserve.”

VA maintains community-based outpatient clinics across the country, including clinics in Minnesota. VA awarded Sterling a contract to operate its clinics in Hibbing and Ely, Minnesota, in March 2013. The contract incorporated VA requirements that routine appointments be scheduled within 14 calendar days of the veteran’s requested appointment date. Today’s settlement resolves allegations that, between July 2013 and April 2014, Sterling did not schedule patient appointments at the Hibbing clinic in compliance with these requirements and changed veterans’ requested appointment dates to make appointment wait times appear shorter.

“Today’s settlement exhibits the importance we place on the health and welfare of our veterans,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald for the District of Minnesota. “The women and men who have bravely served our country deserve to receive timely care without exception.”

“We are pleased with the settlement and the willingness of the company to recognize the importance of timely scheduling medical appointments when veterans seek the healthcare treatment they earned,” said Gregg Hirstein, Special Agent in Charge, VA Office of Inspector General.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Nebraska VA using Skype to help families stay connected during COVID-19

Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs launches ‘virtual visits’ to keep veterans’ home members and families connected

The North Plate Telegraph
March 11, 2020

Members will have access to computers, tablets and other devices loaded with video messaging software, such as Skype and FaceTime. Teammates will be available to assist members and their families in connecting.

The Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs is launching a virtual visitor system to keep veterans’ home members and their families connected while the facilities are limiting entry, according to a press release. Access to the four state veterans’ homes is currently limited to NDVA teammates and medical professionals only as a precaution against COVID-19 exposure.

“Protecting our members’ health and safety is our top priority,” said NDVA Director John Hilgert in a press release. “However, we also want to protect the bond they have with their loved ones and ensure they can remain connected. Through our virtual visitor system, we’re striking a balance between the two.”
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skype

Charity for Disabled Veterans Raised Nearly $300 Million But Little Helped Veterans

A Charity for Disabled Veterans Raised Nearly $300 Million. Why Did Most of the Money Barely Reach Them?

Mother Jones
DAN SPINELLI
MARch 9, 2020

“Nothing has changed. Based on the results, they’ve gone back to what they’ve been doing in the past that got them into trouble.” Daniel Borochof Charity Watch

In the summer of 2014, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation was in dire straits. Only seven years after setting up shop, DVNF had raised more money than all but a handful of other veterans groups, but only 15 percent of its revenue in that time directly reached veterans. The rest was owed, almost entirely, to a single contractor—an outcome that had already sparked a congressional probe and investigations by Florida and New York’s top prosecutors.

Like other groups, DVNF used sappy solicitations to raise money, often centered around veterans with heartbreaking stories of injuries suffered in combat. But many of these characters were completely made up. By the time New York authorities announced a settlement with DVNF that summer, the charity was spending 90 cents of every dollar it raised to pay Quadriga Art, the direct mail firm that coordinated its fundraising campaign, and Convergence Direct Marketing, a firm that designed the direct-mail solicitations. As part of the agreement, Quadriga was ordered to forgive DVNF’s massive debt and pay the state nearly $10 million, the “largest amount of financial relief ever obtained in the US for deceptive charitable fundraising,” according to the New York attorney general’s office.

Instead of cutting ties with Quadriga, DVNF has continued fundraising at near record levels while using most of its revenue to offset exorbitant direct mail costs. While the settlement barred DVNF from resuming the same fundraising arrangement with Quadriga or any of its “successors” for three years, it did not say anything about restricting DVNF’s fundraising costs. And it still permitted the charity to work with Quadriga in a limited capacity if the firm won a “competitive bidding process.”
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If you have been donating to this group thinking they are Disabled American Veterans...they are not!

Fort Carson MP's and FBI arrested veteran after making threats

Pueblo man accused of making threats towards law enforcement and government officials

KOAA News
By: Benjamin Lloyd
Mar 10, 2020

Photo by: Pueblo County Sheriff's Office

A Pueblo man is in the custody of the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office on charges of harassment and obstruction of government operations after law enforcement say he made threats against police and government officials.

37-year-old Thomas Wornick was arrested on Fort Carson by the FBI, Pueblo Police and military police.

According to the sheriff's office, Wornick identified himself as a disabled veteran and made several threats via email towards defense lawyers, businesses and others, including Pueblo County Sheriff's deputies.
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