Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 2 March 2016

1. Top Stories

1.1 - The Wall Street Journal: Veterans Affairs Takes Action Against Five Staff Members Over Alleged Discriminatory Remarks, VA files a complaint against two judges and proposes disciplinary action against three attorneys (1 March, Daniel Huang, 41.5M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) The Department of Veterans Affairs disciplined two judges and proposed action against three staff attorneys after an internal investigation revealed email exchanges that allegedly carried discriminatory remarks. The five staff members at the Board of Veterans Appeals, a VA administrative court in Washington, D.C., that handles appeals over veterans’ claims, were implicated in a “pattern of inappropriate emails that were racist and sexist in tone,” VA officials said.

Hyperlink to Above

1.2 - The Washington Post (Power Post): Was VA watchdog dismissive of whistleblowers reporting wrongdoing? (1 March, Joe Davidson, 23.7M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Inspectors general are like cops on the beat. IG offices include law enforcement officers among others who patrol their agencies — something like neighborhoods — hunting waste, fraud and abuse. But what happens if IGs, watchdogs who operate independently of agency management, are dismissive of those who report wrongdoing? That’s the upshot of a report to President Obama last week about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) inspector general’s office.

Hyperlink to Above

1.3 - Star Tribune: Minneapolis VA cleared in three cases of alleged manipulation of patient appointments, wait times, Inspector general clears Minneapolis VA Health Care System in three cases (1 March, Mark Brunswick, 7.8M online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN) The Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital has been cleared in three cases where it was alleged to have manipulated patient appointments and wait times. The results of the three Minnesota cases were part of a massive release Monday of summaries of wait-time investigations nationwide by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general, the VA’s internal independent watchdog.

Hyperlink to Above

1.4 - The Arizona Republic (Video): Sharon Helman, ex-Phoenix VA hospital director, pleads guilty (1 March, Dennis Wagner, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) Helman gets probation after admitting to false financial disclosure in connection with gifts from a lobbyist. Sharon Helman, the former Phoenix VA Health Care System director who was fired in 2014 amid a scandal over patient care, pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing a false financial disclosure that failed to list more than $50,000 in gifts she had received from a lobbyist.

Hyperlink to Above

1.5 - Hartford Courant: CT Veteran's Findings Spur VFW's Fight For Expanded Agent Orange Benefits (1 March, Peggy McCarthy, 1.5M online visitors/mo; Hartford, CT) A Connecticut veteran who has spent years trying to gain Agent Orange benefits for veterans who served in Korea in 1967 has persuaded the Veterans of Foreign Wars and two other Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 2 March 2016 1

veterans' organizations to take his case before Congress. On Wednesday, VFW National Commander John A. Biedrzycki Jr. will ask Congress to pass a law requiring the VA to grant VA health care and compensation to veterans who served in Korea in 1967 if they have illnesses linked to Agent Orange.

Hyperlink to Above

2. Access to Benefits/Care

2.1 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Clean house at the VA (1 March, 1.8M online visitors/mo; Pittsburgh, PA) The Department of Veterans Affairs' suicide hotline scandal should be the final straw in a rotting haystack. Changing this “culture,” as Secretary Robert McDonald describes it, begins by firing its foot-dragging enablers. “Use the authority you have to demonstrate that repeated failure at the VA is unacceptable by firing Dr. (Mary) Schohn (the VA's director of mental health operations),” writes Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in a letter to Mr. McDonald.

Hyperlink to Above

2.2 - WCPO (ABC-9): Editorial: An open letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, 'We need action now' (1 March, 940k online visitors/mo; Cincinnati, OH) An open letter to Robert McDonald, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dear Secretary McDonald, Two years ago, the president appointed you to turn around the Veterans Affairs department. Two years ago, your predecessor resigned after a nationwide scandal over lengthy wait times for health care. We applauded your appointment, but two years later, we haven’t seen much change where it really counts…

Hyperlink to Above

2.3 - WCCO (CBS-4): Veteran Affairs: Minneapolis VA Cleared Of Wait-Time Allegations (1 March, 927k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN) The Minneapolis VA Health Care System has been cleared in three cases of allegations of manipulation of patient appointments, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday. Veterans Affairs officials say the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), an internal independent “watch-dog” of the VA, found out that “the allegations were not substantiated.” The cases involved two former Gastroenterology Clinic employees claiming they were instructed to alter appointment and scheduling records…

Hyperlink to Above

2.4 - KPHO/KTVK (CBS-5/TV-3, Video): VA employee letter reveals shocking allegations (1 March, Ashleigh Barry, 771k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) It's a shocking statement from a man who not only works on the inside, but he was also one of the whistleblowers who got the feds to take a closer look at the Phoenix VA Hospital. "The Phoenix VA, there's blood on all of our hands at this point," said Brandon Coleman. This might just be the most disturbing as Coleman has nothing to do with a letter that was addressed to reporter Ashleigh Barry and signed by other concerned employees of the VA health care system.

Hyperlink to Above

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 2 2 March 2016

2.5 - WBBM (CBS-2, Video): VA Crisis Hotline Puts Suicidal Chicago Vet On Hold (1 March, Jim Williams, 758k online visitors/mo; Chicago, IL) Every day 22 veterans kill themselves, and every day some of them reach out for help. But recently, as CBS 2’s Jim Williams reports, that help wasn’t there when they needed it most. Chicagoan Dedra Clady, an Army veteran, honorably discharged, was facing unemployment and mounting bills and the haunting memory of a sexual assault that happened shortly before she joined the service.

Hyperlink to Above

2.6 - KOB (NBC-4, Video): VA trying to locate rural veterans who need services (1 March, Devin Neeley, 573k online visitors/mo; Albuquerque, NM) There is a new push to find New Mexico's veterans living in rural areas who may be in need of help. “It has been a long time coming; it’s going to be an asset to native veterans,” said Leon Curley. Tuesday, a ribbon cutting was held at the Shiprock Veterans Center for a rural outreach program. The program is dedicated to finding veterans living in rural areas, previously unregistered, and signing them up with the Veterans Administration…

Hyperlink to Above

2.7 - KARE (NBC-11): VA Report: Wait time claims 'not substantiated' (1 March, Steve Eckert and A.J. Lagoe, 548k online visitors/mo; Golden Valley, MN) An internal investigation has failed to confirm claims made in 2014 of wait time manipulation at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. In September 2014, two former VA employees told KARE 11 that that they were pressured to falsify appointment dates to hide long delays in patient care. A new report issued by the VA’s Office of Inspector General says their “allegations were not substantiated.”

Hyperlink to Above

2.8 - The Times Leader: VA nurse Pieri, accused of assisting in surgery while drunk, has troubled past, Drums resident accused of assisting in surgery while drunk (1 March, Steve Mocarsky, 394k online visitors/mo; Wilkes-Barre, PA) In October 1985, Richard J. Pieri was charged in the hit-and-run death of a veteran near the Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital. Now, 30 years later, he’s facing reckless endangerment charges after allegedly staggering into that same hospital and aiding in emergency surgery as an operating room nurse after drinking four or five beers at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino. The 59-year-old Drums resident faces DUI and public drunkenness charges as well.

Hyperlink to Above

2.9 - WPEC (CBS-12, Video): Report: VA Medical Center violated policy (1 March, Al Pefley, 380k online visitors/mo; West Palm Beach, FL) Another black eye for the Veterans Affairs Administration. A new report shows the medical center in Riviera Beach is among those VA hospitals that manipulated wait times to make the facility look better. The findings are spelled out in a report just released by the VA Office of Inspector General in Washington. And it says when staff set veterans' appointments, some things were done improperly.

Hyperlink to Above

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 3 2 March 2016

2.10 - WXOW (ABC-19, Video): Veterans address officials at Tomah VA town hall (1 March, Ginna Roe, 351k online visitors/mo; La Crescent, MN) Veterans who use the Tomah VA Medical Center for their health care had the chance to take their concerns straight to the top officials Tuesday night. The Department of Veterans Affairs held a town hall forum. It's all part of an attempt to rebuild a facility that's come under great scrutiny over the last year, primarily due to the prescription drug scandal and retaliation against those who complained.

Hyperlink to Above

2.11 - Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Zinke newest co-sponsor on bill allowing in vitro for disabled vets (1 March, Troy Carter, 298k online visitors/mo; Bozeman, MT) Republican Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow disabled veterans to receive in vitro fertilization from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The legislation covers only “veterans whose disability includes an injury to the reproductive organs or the spinal cord that directly results in the veteran being unable to procreate,” according to the bill’s summary. The spouses of such veterans are allowed a maximum of six fertilization attempts in three in vitro cycles.

Hyperlink to Above

2.12 - The Town Talk: Extravaganza in Pineville set to thank veterans (1 March, Richard Sharkey, 211k online visitors/mo; Alexandria, LA) That is the message of the VA Lagniappe Extravaganza, an event scheduled for Saturday in Pineville to show appreciation and respect for veterans and their families. “We don’t do enough for our veterans. They gave up so much for us to have these freedoms. It’s our turn to show some gratitude toward them,” Elaine Setliff said. Setliff owns Louisiana Lagniappe Realty in Alexandria, which is co-sponsoring the event.

Hyperlink to Above

2.13 - The Leaf-Chronicle: VETERANS VOICE: Be prepared to back up VA claim (1 March Sandy Britt, 210k online visitors/mo; Clarksville, TN) It’s important veterans understand what a “well-grounded claim” for disability compensation or other VA benefits means. Simply, it means you’ve provided needed evidence to successfully support your claim. If your claim isn’t well-grounded, it will be denied. For a service-connected disability compensation claim, you must provide current medical evidence and diagnosis of a chronic disability and show how the disability is related to service…

Hyperlink to Above

2.14 - WEAU (NBC-13, Video): Tomah VA holds town-hall meeting (1 March, Amanda Tyler, 177k online visitors/mo; Eau Claire, WI) The Department of Veteran's Affairs is hoping a series of town-hall style meetings will help them improve communication with veterans. One of those town-hall events was held Tuesday night at the Tomah VA. Veterans at the event spoke about their concerns getting timely care and having their requests heard. Many veterans also expressed their frustrations with the Veteran’s Choice program.

Hyperlink to Above

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 4 2 March 2016

2.15 - The St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County commissioners approve up to $50K for VA clinic analysis (1 March, Sheldon Gardner, 159k online visitors/mo; St. Augustine, FL) St. Johns County commissioners unanimously approved spending up to $50,000 to find out what it would take to build a veterans clinic. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to work with the county to build a permanent clinic near the Health and Human Services Center at 200 San Sebastian View, though no contract has been signed yet.

Hyperlink to Above

2.16 - WJAX (CBS-47, Video): Action News Jax Investigates: Wait times for VA Choice (1 March, Paige Kelton, 147k online visitors/mo; Jacksonville, FL) Local veterans, still waiting for medical treatment. Action News Jax is uncovering problems with the new program meant to reduce wait times. Local veterans tell us VA Choice doesn't work. Through VA Choice, or Health Net as it is called in Jacksonville, veterans said it's harder to get treatment through Health Net than it is their VA doctor. When we asked a spokesman for specific information about how many veterans have received service through the program, he couldn't tell us.

Hyperlink to Above

2.17 - Rapid City Journal (Hot Springs Star): VA fight continues (1 March, John D. Taylor, 129k online visitors/mo; Rapid City, SD) Save the VA committee members Pat Russell, Bob Nelson and Don Ackerman were not so enthusiastic about what they heard at what they believe will be the final U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health Care System (VA/BHHCS) consulting parties meeting, held last month. During the Jan. 21 meeting, all three men saw hints of what Nelson described as “new directions” in the conversations about what will happen with Hot Springs’…

Hyperlink to Above

2.18 - KIOW (FM-108.3): Senators Gillibrand and Ernst Urge Department of Veterans Affairs to Screen Veterans for Food Insecurity (2 March, AJ Taylor, 2.6k online visitors/mo; Forest City, IA) U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) sent a bipartisan letter urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin screening veterans for food insecurity as part of routine health care screenings. Veterans are at an increased risk for food insecurity, or a lack of reliable access to affordable and nutritious food.

Hyperlink to Above

3. Ending Veterans’ Homelessness

3.1 - Los Angeles Times: Dog park and other tenants fight to remain on VA land in West L.A. (1 March, Gale Holland, 25.6M online visitors/mo; Los Angeles, CA) Pet owners arrived at the Brentwood dog park one October morning to find that federal police had chained the gate shut. It turned out that the park is operated by the city of Los Angeles, but the land is federal — part of the Veterans Affairs Department's West Los Angeles medical campus. The next day, the chains came off, thanks to a Brentwood dog walker with a well- connected client, several park regulars said.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 5 2 March 2016

Hyperlink to Above

3.2 - The San Diego Union-Tribune: New campaign tackles veteran homelessness, San Diego spending $12.5M to catch up with other cities on chronic problem (1 March, David Garrick, 1.5M online visitors/mo; San Diego, CA) San Diego took what city leaders described as a bold step on Tuesday toward ending veteran homelessness, a chronic local problem that other cities across the nation have had more success tackling in recent years. The City Council unanimously approved a multi-pronged, $12.5 million campaign to get 1,000 veterans off the streets by the end of the year. It includes incentives for landlords to rent to homeless veterans…

Hyperlink to Above

3.3 - Multi-Housing News: Homeless No More: Veteran’s Housing Solutions (1 March, Samantha Goldberg, 118k online visitors/mo; New York, NY) “The Task Force was created to be kind of like a home for all the work around ending veteran homelessness that was going on in New York City,” Julie Irwin, co-chair of the task force, said. The task force consists of government agencies, such as the New York City offices of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, nonprofits and homelessness service providers.

Hyperlink to Above

4. Ending the Claims Backlog

4.1 - POLITICO: How to fix the backlog of disability claims (1 March, Henry Aaron and Lanhee Chen, 7.4M online visitors/mo; Arlington, VA) Congress does not need to look far for an example of how to reduce the SSA backlog. In 2013, the Veterans Administration cut its 600,000-case backlog by 84 percent and reduced waiting times by nearly two-thirds, all within two years. It’s an impressive result. Why have federal officials dealt aggressively and effectively with that backlog, but not the one at SSA?

Hyperlink to Above

5. Veteran Opportunities for Education/GI Bill

5.1 - Boomer Consumer (SeattlePi): Attorneys generals ask Veterans Administration to restore educational benefits to victims of predatory colleges (1 March, Rita R. Robison, 8.7k online visitors/mo; Seattle, WA) Eight attorneys general are calling on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to restore education benefits to veterans who were victims of predatory institutions, such as Corinthian Colleges. “Our veterans earned these benefits by serving our country,” Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Monday. “These institutions specifically preyed upon them, using false promises and dishonest statistics about their programs and job placement.

Hyperlink to Above

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 6 2 March 2016

6. Women Veterans – No coverage

7. Other

7.1 - The Washington Times (AP): Ex-Phoenix VA hospital exec failed to disclose yearly gifts (1 March, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) The former director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System - which had management problems that drew national outrage - has pleaded guilty to making false financial disclosures to the federal government about yearly gifts, prosecutors said Tuesday. Sharon Helman was accused of failing to list more than $50,000 in gifts she received from a lobbyist in 2012-14, according to authorities.

Hyperlink to Above

7.2 - The Washington Times (AP): Former VA doctor convicted of child molestation (1 March, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) A federal court jury in Spokane has convicted Dr. Craig Morgenstern of child sex abuse, after hearing graphic evidence of the former Veterans Affairs doctor’s secret life as a serial child molester. The jury found Morgenstern guilty on all counts Tuesday. The Spokesman-Review says he faces the possibility of life in prison when he is sentenced this spring by U.S. District Court Judge William F. Nielsen.

Hyperlink to Above

7.3 - KTAR (FM-92.3): Former Phoenix VA director pleads guilty to failure to disclose financial incentives (1 March, 841k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) The former director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center plead guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government on Tuesday, according to a recent press release. Sharon Helman was director of Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from February 2012 to December 2014. During that time, she was required by federal law to compete and file financial disclosure reports each year, including disclosing the gifts she had received.

Hyperlink to Above

7.4 - KPHO/KTVK (CBS-5/TV-3): Former director of Phoenix VA hospital pleads guilty in financial disclosure case (1 March, 771k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) The former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice. Sharon Helman, 45, of Surprise, was director of the Phoenix VA hospital from February 2012 to December 2014.

Hyperlink to Above

7.5 - Military Times: Counsel for whistleblowers blasts IG reports on VA wait time scandal (1 March, Patricia Kime, 482k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) The VA Office of Inspector General has started publishing its findings of investigations launched two years ago into charges that VA medical facilities adjusted patient appointment schedules to meet department standards. Now the conclusions in at least two of 77 completed investigations

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 7 2 March 2016

have prompted the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and several senators to question the VA watchdog agency's independence…

Hyperlink to Above

7.6 - The News-Journal: Controversial VA director reinstated (1 March, Saranac Hale Spencer, 458k online visitors/mo; New Castle, DE) The director of the regional Veterans' Affairs office in Philadelphia will be reinstated following an investigation of her use of personal funds – a move that Rep. John Carney, D-Del. has challenged. The Philadelphia Regional Office manages the Wilmington benefits office and Diana Rubens, a Delaware native and long-time VA employee, was sent to take charge of it in June of 2014.

Hyperlink to Above

7.7 - KJZZ (NPR-91.5, Audio): Former Phoenix VA Director Pleads Guilty In Federal Court (1 March, Stina Sieg, 413k online visitors/mo; Tempe, AZ) The former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court after failing to report nearly $50,000 in gifts from a lobbyist. Sharon Helman pleaded guilty to making a false disclosure to the federal government in the wake of an investigation by the VA and FBI. Helman was the Phoenix VA’s director from 2012 to 2014, and the investigation found that during that time she received…

Hyperlink to Above

7.8 - Phoenix New Times: Sharon Helman, Ex-Va Chief In Phoenix, Pleads Guilty To Felony Charge (1 March, Ray Stern, 255k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) The former director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center pleaded guilty today to failing to disclose large gifts she received from a VA lobbyist. Sharon Helman, 45, of Surprise admitted to one felony count of filing a false financial disclosure to the federal government and will be sentenced to probation in April, according to her plea agreement. Helman, who became infamous for the sometimes-fatal delays in medical care that occurred at the center on her watch…

Hyperlink to Above

7.9 - My Suburban Life: Officials respond to 'incomplete' investigation into Hines VA whistleblower complaints (1 March, 253k online visitors/mo; Downers Grove, IL) The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has found that an investigation into whistleblower complaints at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital was incomplete, failing to address the concerns raised, although evidence was found to support the allegations. The investigation conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General failed to offer recommendations to address the ongoing delays that were at the heart of the whistleblower complaints…

Hyperlink to Above

7.10 - Lake County News: VA announces appointment of principal deputy under secretary for health (1 March, 106k online visitors/mo; Lakeport, CA) The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the appointment of Dr. Richard A. Stone to the position of principal deputy under secretary for health. Dr. Stone will serve as the second-in- command to Dr. David Shulkin, VA’s under secretary for health. Dr. Stone began work Monday.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 8 2 March 2016

Hyperlink to Above

7.11 - Cronkite News Service: Lawmakers welcome VA case guilty plea, say more needs to be done (1 March Lauren Clark, 102k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) Arizona lawmakers welcomed Tuesday’s announcement that the former director of the Phoenix VA hospital pleaded guilty to failing to disclose gifts from a lobbyist, but said it was too little and too late for veterans waiting for justice. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona said Tuesday that Sharon Helman pleaded guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government, by failing to report more than $49,000 in gifts…

Hyperlink to Above

7.12 - Phoenix Business Journal: Former Phoenix VA hospital director pleads guilty (1 March, Angela Gonzales, 64k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) Sharon Helman, the former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center, pleaded guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government. Her plea puts her on probation, even though a conviction for making a false statement to a government agency carries a maximum penalty of five years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. Sentencing is scheduled for April 25.

Hyperlink to Above

7.13 - WTTV (CBS-4, Video): Action demanded after top VA official involved in misconduct is allowed to retire with benefits (1 March, Matt Smith, 8.9k online visitors/mo; Indianapolis, IN) Action is being demanded after a top Department of Veterans Affairs official involved in misconduct was allowed to retire with benefits intact. “That’s Washington bureaucratic kind of cover-up stuff and Hoosiers are tired of it,” Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) said in an interview with CBS4. Jack Hetrick oversaw the care of more than 500,000 veterans in parts of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana as the network regional director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network 10.

Hyperlink to Above

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 9 2 March 2016

1. Top Stories

The Department of Veterans Affairs disciplined two judges and proposed action against three staff attorneys after an internal investigation revealed email exchanges that allegedly carried discriminatory remarks.

The five staff members at the Board of Veterans Appeals, a VA administrative court in Washington, D.C., that handles appeals over veterans’ claims, were implicated in a “pattern of inappropriate emails that were racist and sexist in tone,” VA officials said.

The department said it proposed disciplinary action against the three attorneys in January and has filed a complaint against the two judges.

The moves come as the VA has battled criticism in recent years for long backlogs and extended wait times in managing veterans’ health care and disability compensation. The latest action raises questions as to whether appeals from minority veterans received a fair hearing.

The VA said it is reviewing cases assessed by the individuals to determine if any decisions were affected. “At this time, we have no indication that any veteran’s appeal was unjustly influenced by their conduct,” the VA said in a statement.

Once received by the board, a veteran’s appeals claim is examined by an attorney, who writes it up and recommends a course of action before handing off the files to a judge. The judge reviews the case and determines whether to sign off on the decision. The Board of Appeals decided on 55,532 cases in 2014, the majority of which—95%—were related to compensation claims, according to the VA.

An investigation by the Office of the Inspector General, the VA’s watchdog, discovered the emails in September and brought the information to the VA, according to the OIG. The VA immediately removed the suspected employees from handling cases, according to the agency.

The judges involved were Dennis Chiappetta and James Markey, according to people familiar with the matter. Two of the three attorneys were Bernard DoMinh and Charles Hancock, the people familiar said. The Wall Street Journal was unable to ascertain the name of the third attorney.

Mathew Tully, an attorney for Mr. Markey, said the issue is “currently in active litigation.”

“In the interest of preserving the objectivity of the administrative process that is charged with deciding this matter, we think it best to allow the legal system to bring an end to the gossip and character assassination...,” Mr. Tully said.

Mr. DoMinh didn’t respond to requests for comment. Messrs. Chiappetta and Hancock couldn’t be immediately reached.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 10 2 March 2016

On Jan. 15, the board’s judges held meetings with their staff to discuss the ramifications of the events, according to a person familiar with the matter. Possible responses proposed by the staffers included redoing hearings to vacating decisions, the person said.

1.2 - The Washington Post (Power Post): Was VA watchdog dismissive of whistleblowers reporting wrongdoing? (1 March, Joe Davidson, 23.7M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)

Inspectors general are like cops on the beat.

IG offices include law enforcement officers among others who patrol their agencies — something like neighborhoods — hunting waste, fraud and abuse.

But what happens if IGs, watchdogs who operate independently of agency management, are dismissive of those who report wrongdoing?

That’s the upshot of a report to President Obama last week about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) inspector general’s office. The document is from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), a small watchdog in its own right, but one with a big bite.

Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner’s language was sharp and damning. She said the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) created a “straw man” and discredited whistleblowers in two separate cases involving the department’s scandal over the use and coverup of phony wait lists.

As was the case in facilities around the country, Lerner reported whistleblower allegations about VA management procedures in Chicago and Shreveport, La. “created a false appearance of acceptable wait times while masking significant delays in veterans’ access to care.” The resulting scandal rocked the VA, trashed its image and led to the resignation of the former secretary.

Because the IG narrowly focused its probe into allegations from employees, Lerner said the investigation “failed to address the whistleblowers’ legitimate concerns about access to care for mental health patients.”

Furthermore, “the focus and tone of the IG’s investigations appear to be intended to discredit the whistleblowers by focusing on the word ‘secret,’ rather than reviewing the access to care issues identified by the whistleblowers,” she told the president.

OIG determined the use of alternative spreadsheet wait lists was not secret. But by not going much beyond that, Lerner said the inspector general missed the thrust of the complaints and in the process diminished the complainants.

A statement from the inspector general’s office said it “did not discredit the individuals who made the complaints. The administrative summaries report the facts gathered during the investigation from interviews and records reviewed. In some cases, the evidence did not support the complaints.”

Lerner contends OIG did not do its job. She was blunt.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 11 2 March 2016

“I have determined that the VA’s reports do not meet the statutory requirements and the findings do not appear reasonable,” she said.

Lerner also knocked VA’s management for saying the IG reports “thoroughly” and “fully” addressed the whistleblower complaints.

A statement from VA management said it received full copies of the IG reports, unlike Lerner who was provided summaries. The full reports do “adequately address the OSC … concerns as to patient wait times,” the VA statement said.

Given VA’s reputation, both with management and the OIG, members of Congress don’t give the department the benefit of the doubt.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D), who represents a suburban Chicago district, expressed her “serious consternation” to the IG’s office for denying Lerner the full reports. “Your actions constitute a trend indicating significant transparency deficiencies in the VA OIG’s policies and practices,” she wrote in a letter to Deputy Inspector General Linda Halliday.

The whistleblowers are Christopher Shea Wilkes, a social worker at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, and Germaine Clarno, a social worker at the Hines VA Hospital in Chicago, where she is president of the American Federation of Government Employees local. In July they sent a letter to President Obama urging him to fire the former acting VA inspector general, Richard Griffin. Days later, he resigned.

Lerner presents a picture of shoddy reports from an investigative office that did not dig deeply into complaints from whistleblowers, who felt their allegations were minimized.

Regarding Shreveport, Lerner said the inspector general concluded there were “2,700 veterans who needed to be assigned a mental health provider. However, the OIG report offers no findings or conclusions regarding whether the shortage of providers caused a delay in access to care, endangering public health and safety, nor does it outline any planned corrective actions to address this outstanding concern.”

Regarding Chicago, Lerner said “the content and tenor of the report OIG prepared demonstrate hostility toward Ms. Clarno, apparently for having spoken publicly, as well as an attempt to minimize her allegations.”

Wilkes and Clarno said they paid a price for their outspokenness on behalf of veterans. Wilkes said he was given little work and put in an office that basically was a storeroom with no windows.

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) called Wilkes and Clarno “champions for standing up to the intimidation of the VA.” Lerner’s letter, he said, “shows another example of the VA culture – attack whistleblowers.”

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 12 2 March 2016

The Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital has been cleared in three cases where it was alleged to have manipulated patient appointments and wait times.

The results of the three Minnesota cases were part of a massive release Monday of summaries of wait-time investigations nationwide by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general, the VA’s internal independent watchdog.

In the first case, the inspector general found no evidence backing two fired employees of the hospital’s Gastroenterology Clinic, who said they were instructed by management to cancel appointments and alter records.

The former VA employees told their story to KARE-TV, saying that they were pressured to falsify patient appointment dates and medical records to hide delays, sparking the investigation. In some cases, they told the station, employees were instructed to falsify medical records by writing that patients had declined follow-up treatments even though the veterans had never been contacted.

But current employees told investigators there was no manipulation of scheduling and that they were never instructed to falsify information, the inspector general said. Investigators interviewed more than two dozen employees and reviewed more than 21,000 e-mails, but found no evidence the allegations could be substantiated. Investigators also could find no evidence of claims by the former employees that they had informed managers of their concerns.

In the second case, the inspector general reviewed allegations, also broadcast on KARE-TV, that data was manipulated to show an appointment was canceled after a veteran’s death in 2012.

Investigators found records showing the veteran made a cellphone call on the morning before his death to cancel the appointment and that a notification of his call was transmitted by an automated call system to a schedulers’ e-mail group the next morning, leaving the false impression that the call had been made the day of his death. Three VA employees located the original note indicating the veteran had called before his death, the inspector general said.

The third case involved allegations in a “hot line call” that the dental staff was “strongly advised” to falsely report wait times. Investigators said the employee who made the call was unable to provide specific examples or evidence to corroborate his allegation.

“We very much appreciate the release of the reports by [the inspector general] and the confirmation of no wrongdoing on the part of our employees,” Minneapolis VA Health Care System Director Patrick Kelly said in a written statement “We will continue to provide the excellent quality of care to our nation’s veterans.”

The VA’s inspector general has yet to release findings in another investigation into alleged misconduct at a Hibbing VA outpatient clinic. Numerous former clinic workers have claimed they were ordered to manipulate the schedules for veterans’ appointments to make it appear they were being seen within their desired appointment date when they were actually being seen as much as six to eight weeks out.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 13 2 March 2016

1.4 - The Arizona Republic (Video): Sharon Helman, ex-Phoenix VA hospital director, pleads guilty (1 March, Dennis Wagner, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

Helman gets probation after admitting to false financial disclosure in connection with gifts from a lobbyist.

Sharon Helman, the former Phoenix VA Health Care System director who was fired in 2014 amid a scandal over patient care, pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing a false financial disclosure that failed to list more than $50,000 in gifts she had received from a lobbyist.

A conviction for that crime carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, but terms of a plea agreement call for Helman to receive probation with no time behind bars.

Helman oversaw the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from 2012-14, when whistleblowers disclosed to Congress and The Arizona Republic that veterans seeking appointments faced delays of up to a year, and that some had died while on secret wait lists. Subsequent investigations verified that the VA in Phoenix and at hospitals nationwide had "cooked the books," manipulating wait-time data. The revelations led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, as well as nationwide audits, congressional reviews and a $16 billion reform bill.

Neither Helman nor her attorneys could be reached immediately for comment on her plea.

Helman, who denied that patient-scheduling data had been falsified, was fired by the VA over the wait-time issue, for alleged retaliation against whistleblowers, and for failing to report the lobbyist gifts. Her termination on the first two allegations was overturned by a judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board, but the final charge was upheld.

The gifts were provided by Dennis "Max" Lewis, a former Veterans Health Administration administrator who had been Helman's boss before he became a private consultant.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Helman failed to report $19,300 worth of gifts in 2013, including an automobile, a check for $5,000 and tickets to a Beyonce concert. In 2014, prosecutors said, Helman failed to disclose another $27,700 in perks. That included family tickets to Disneyland.

Helman was not charged with unlawfully accepting the gifts, but failing to provide the VA with required information to evaluate a potential conflict of interest.

Lewis, then vice president at Jefferson Consulting Group, was terminated by his employer when the controversy became public in late 2014. Jefferson represented major health-care companies seeking business with the VA.

Phoenix FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Cwynar said, "Although this plea agreement calls for a term of probation, making a false financial disclosure to the federal government is a felony and will permanently attach to Ms. Helman's record."

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 14 2 March 2016

Michael Seitler of the VA's Office of Inspector General added, "This prosecution holds Ms. Helman accountable. We hope it will deter any other government executives who may be tempted to conceal this type of information."

Paula Pedine, a Phoenix VA whistleblower, described the entire VA care crisis and scandal as "a sad situation that I wish never occurred." But she added, "I believe this is the beginning of accountability that needs to take place."

1.5 - Hartford Courant: CT Veteran's Findings Spur VFW's Fight For Expanded Agent Orange Benefits (1 March, Peggy McCarthy, 1.5M online visitors/mo; Hartford, CT)

A Connecticut veteran who has spent years trying to gain Agent Orange benefits for veterans who served in Korea in 1967 has persuaded the Veterans of Foreign Wars and two other veterans' organizations to take his case before Congress.

On Wednesday, VFW National Commander John A. Biedrzycki Jr. will ask Congress to pass a law requiring the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to grant VA health care and compensation to veterans who served in Korea in 1967 if they have illnesses linked to Agent Orange.

Biedrzycki's prepared testimony states that current VA rules exclude many veterans "who now suffer from diseases and illnesses that have been directly linked to the chemical defoliant."

Carlos Fuentes, VFW senior legislative associate, said documents provided by Army veteran Eugene Clarke of Redding swayed the national organization to seek the benefits change through Congress. The documents include proof of test spraying of defoliants in Korea in 1967 and of veterans' exposure to Korean government spraying. Fuentes said VFW efforts to convince the VA to change its policy have been unsuccessful. The VFW claims 1.4 million members.

"After working on this for so long, it's heartwarming," Clarke said of the VFW support. "The VFW getting behind it is a really, really big deal," he added.

Five years ago Clarke found information on the Internet that he and other veterans who served in Korea in the 1960s may have been exposed to Agent Orange.

"I got very angry and hurt that they didn't tell us this stuff was going on," said Clarke, 69, a retired stockbroker and a VFW member.

Clarke learned that his Type 2 diabetes could have resulted from Agent Orange exposure, but that only veterans who served on the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from April 1968 through August 1971 are eligible for benefits. Such eligibility means that if a veteran has one of a list of illnesses connected to Agent Orange, the VA presumes that it is the result of herbicide exposure.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 15 2 March 2016

Without that presumption, a veteran from 1967 can try to obtain benefits, but has the burden of producing evidence of a connection between the illness and Agent Orange. The VA considers those applications on a case-by-case basis, according to a spokesperson.

About 55,000 servicemen were sent to Korea each year from 1966 through 1969, the duration of the "Second Korean War." They usually served 13-month stints.

What frustrates Clarke and his contemporaries is that federal law requires benefits for children born with spinal bifida whose parents served in Korea in 1967. Spinal bifida is associated with Agent Orange exposure.

Children "get the benefits. The parents don't get the benefits. That doesn't even make sense," said Glen Dunn, 71, of Fordyce, Ark., who served with Clarke. "It's not even logical."

The National Veterans Legal Services Program asked the VA in 2009 to grant the 1967 veterans Agent Orange eligibility, but was not successful.

"There are people all over who are trying," said Robert Haynes, national secretary-treasurer of the Second Infantry Division Association.

Haynes, 67, served in Korea in 1966 and 1967 and receives VA benefits for Type 2 diabetes and neuropathy, after appealing an initial rejection. He said that he was exposed to Agent Orange while providing security to Korean soldiers spraying defoliants. "If you were downwind from them spraying, you would be soaking wet with the stuff," he said.

Haynes, of McHenry, Ill., advises veterans on how to apply for benefits. He said he's been contacted by hundreds who served in Korea in 1967, but doesn't know how many applied.

Presumptive illnesses designated by the VA as connected to Agent Orange exposure include several cancers, Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and certain ailments of the skin, nervous system, heart, tissues, and organs.

Dunn, the Arkansas veteran, said he is in touch with 16 men in his squadron, four have Type 2 diabetes. Robert McCumber, 69, of Eugene, Ore., who served with Clarke, has cancer of the larynx. He was denied benefits and is appealing.

The VA maintains that "there is no evidence for general use of Agent Orange on the Korean DMZ until April 1968," according to a spokesperson.

Clarke objects to the "general use" standard. He obtained a 1979 Defense Department letter to the VA that cites a pilot Agent Orange program conducted by the United States on the Korean DMZ in 1967 on nine locations covering 80 acres.

"Testing is spraying," said Clarke, who applied for his benefits in December 2015. "It's in the air, streams, rivers, and ground water, all interconnected," he said.

To Clarke, time is of the essence because of the veterans' ages. Other similar battles have taken years, not all successful. After a 10-year fight, the VA approved disability benefits for Air Force Reserve pilots who flew planes from 1972 to 1982 that had been used to spray Agent Orange in Vietnam. In 2012, a law was passed to secure medical benefits for Marines exposed to water contamination at Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to 1980s.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 16 2 March 2016

But in February, the VA denied presumptive Agent Orange benefits to Navy veterans who served off the Vietnam coast, after a federal court had ordered the VA to reconsider it previous denial. Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to give the Navy group the same eligibility as those who served on land in the Vietnam War. Now, they are given presumptive benefits only for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. All five Connecticut representatives co- sponsored the House bill.

Clarke said he would continue to press U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and Rep. Jim Himes, his congressman, for their support. Blumenthal, a ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, has co-sponsored a bill that would require the Defense Department to keep a registry of Armed Forces exposure to toxic chemicals and declassify documents, thus providing evidence for benefit applications.

Biedrzycki will be addressing the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees. He will also ask for a benefits extension through 1975 to cover residual Agent Orange effects in Korea. The proposals are part of a legislative package of the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, and Paralyzed Veterans of America.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team.

2. Access to Benefits/Care

2.1 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Clean house at the VA (1 March, 1.8M online visitors/mo; Pittsburgh, PA)

The Department of Veterans Affairs' suicide hotline scandal should be the final straw in a rotting haystack. Changing this “culture,” as Secretary Robert McDonald describes it, begins by firing its foot-dragging enablers.

“Use the authority you have to demonstrate that repeated failure at the VA is unacceptable by firing Dr. (Mary) Schohn (the VA's director of mental health operations),” writes Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in a letter to Mr. McDonald.

Despite a 40 percent increase in calls to the VA crisis hotline in 2014, the agency did little, if anything, to meet the demand. Reportedly one in six calls during an “overload” were directed to backup centers, where some calls went to voicemail or were put on hold.

Mr. Kirk says the VA's health services office had known about “unacceptable examples of disregard” since April 2014, The Hill newspaper reports.

It's estimated that 22 veterans commit suicide daily. In response to one veteran's death, a Special Forces veteran with a friend launched an Instagram suicide-prevention page that today is saving lives and has more than 17,000 followers, CBS News reports. Meanwhile the VA is plodding along and will meet recommended changes — by Sept. 30.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 17 2 March 2016

This culture of delay, with deadly consequences, changes only when those who cling to it are removed.

2.2 - WCPO (ABC-9): Editorial: An open letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, 'We need action now' (1 March, 940k online visitors/mo; Cincinnati, OH)

An open letter to Robert McDonald, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dear Secretary McDonald,

Two years ago, the president appointed you to turn around the Veterans Affairs department. Two years ago, your predecessor resigned after a nationwide scandal over lengthy wait times for health care.

We applauded your appointment, but two years later, we haven’t seen much change where it really counts – in the care provided to the people who answered the call to serve our nation during war.

Here in your hometown, at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, there’s evidence that cost-cutting, not quality care, was the priority. We found veterans in need of care getting lost in a maze of bureaucracy and red tape. We found current and former staff members who told us the “leaders” of the center compromised care rather than improved it. Those whistleblowers said VA leaders focused on making themselves and their financial statements look good rather than helping their patients become whole again.

Here in Cincinnati, we found that some of the taxpayer dollars from the $10 billion Choice program appear to have been spent, not on improving health care, but on outsourcing it.

We found that respected medical programs at our $373 million medical center were gutted to make the balance sheet look better.

We could go on.

But here’s what we want to know, Mr. Secretary: What are you going to do to fix the problems?

Your actions last week — to remove the Cincinnati chief of staff Dr. Barbara Temeck and her boss Jack Hetrick — are a start. But just a start.

 Will you open a full, independent investigation into the cutbacks at the Cincinnati VA hospital and what impact they had on care?  Will you examine the Choice program to make sure it is working properly and has appropriate safeguards in place to monitor the care provided for veterans?  Will you respond to the whistleblowers’ claims that they approached VA officials a year ago about the problems in Cincinnati, but nothing was done?

The VA has failed our veterans. Two years after a nationwide scandal, we found that care for veterans is still embarrassingly inadequate here in Cincinnati.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 18 2 March 2016

This is urgent, and we have not seen a sense of urgency on your part. We found veterans with serious medical problems who have been practically forgotten.

You are a veteran yourself. A graduate of West Point. Emblazoned on the West Point coat of arms is its motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.” That’s more than just an empty slogan. It is a guide to action. And we need action now.

2.3 - WCCO (CBS-4): Veteran Affairs: Minneapolis VA Cleared Of Wait-Time Allegations (1 March, 927k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN)

The Minneapolis VA Health Care System has been cleared in three cases of allegations of manipulation of patient appointments, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday.

Veterans Affairs officials say the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), an internal independent “watch-dog” of the VA, found out that “the allegations were not substantiated.”

The cases involved two former Gastroenterology Clinic employees claiming they were instructed to alter appointment and scheduling records, claims from an OIG “hotline” call that the dental clinic appointments were manipulated and the claims that a VA computer system showed that a veteran had canceled an appointment after his death.

Officials say in the first case, there was no evidence found in 21,000 emails of the former employees that they had communicated any concerns about wait times.

In the OIG hotline call, the employee who made the call was unable to provide any specific examples or evidence to corroborate his allegation.

Lastly, in the third case, the OIG found records that the veteran made a cell phone call on the morning prior to his death to cancel an appointment. However, the notification of his phone call was transmitted via the VA’s automated scheduling system, AudioCARE, to the schedulers’ email group the next morning, which left a false impression that the call had been made that day. AudioCARE staff found an original note indicating the veteran called prior to his death.

“We very much appreciate the release of the reports by OIG and the confirmation of no wrong doing on the part of our employees,” said Minneapolis VA Health Care System Director Patrick Kelly. “We will continue to provide the excellent quality of care to our nation’s Veterans.”

2.4 - KPHO/KTVK (CBS-5/TV-3, Video): VA employee letter reveals shocking allegations (1 March, Ashleigh Barry, 771k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 19 2 March 2016

It's a shocking statement from a man who not only works on the inside, but he was also one of the whistleblowers who got the feds to take a closer look at the Phoenix VA Hospital.

"The Phoenix VA, there's blood on all of our hands at this point," said Brandon Coleman.

This might just be the most disturbing as Coleman has nothing to do with a letter that was addressed to reporter Ashleigh Barry and signed by other concerned employees of the VA health care system.

The letter provides veteran names, the dates they committed suicide, the manner of death, and most importantly, how they claim the suicides could have been prevented. The letter cites disturbing details about veteran suicides and the lack of care they received at the Phoenix VA. This is a small sample of the amount of veterans, the dozens and dozens that commit suicide in the Phoenix area every year," said Coleman after reading the letter.

Army Ranger Antouine Castaneda, Airman Andrew Hawley, Marine Sergeant Raul January and Navy veteran Thomas Murphy are four men named in the letter. The letter states that those men took their own lives in 2015. According to the letter, the VA failed to help all of them. In fact, Murphy killed himself in the regional office parking lot to help raise awareness. "There's no stronger statement that a veteran could make to a failed health care system and total disregard for his needs," said Coleman.

The letter calls for outside agencies to investigate the "full scope of the atrocities committed daily" at the Phoenix VA. The letter contains information only insiders would know and know how to cover it up. "The general public doesn't know what's really going on," said Coleman. This letter was written by staff at the management level who for fear of losing their jobs, asked to remain anonymous. They say they couldn't just sit back and watch, especially when lives are literally on the line. "There's so much corruption that runs all the way to the top, it's like a cancer that needs to be cut out," Coleman said.

Here is a statement from Senator John McCain's office:

"Senator McCain shares the serious concerns of employees and patients at the Phoenix VA who continue to report evidence of gross mismanagement and poor care of our veterans, and has repeatedly called on VA Secretary McDonald to fully investigate these failures. Despite enacting major VA reform legislation more than a year ago, the Obama Administration has refused to fire corrupt executives, crack-down on whistle-blower retaliation, and effectively implement the Choice Card program so that no veteran is denied the timely, quality care they deserve. Furthermore, despite the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act being signed into law, the Obama Administration still fails to use all of the tools at its disposal to improve mental health services for our most vulnerable veterans.

The fact is, while the VA’s budget has increased significantly every single year since 2001, and VA hospitals have hired more doctors, nurses, and mental health specialists even as the actual number of veterans seeking care through the VA has decreased, the VA health care system still struggles to provide veterans with quality care. Despite these obvious failures, President Obama and Secretary McDonald continue to drag their feet on implementing critical reforms that Congress authorized and veterans demand. Arizona veterans have no stronger advocate than Senator McCain, and he won’t stop fighting until the Obama Administration finally follows through on its promise to deliver veterans the best quality care they have earned.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 20 2 March 2016

Senator McCain’s office has full-time staff members dedicated to helping veterans get the care they need. If you as a veteran are encountering problems receiving care, or if you know a veteran who is having similar difficulty, please contact Senator McCain's office at 602-952-2410 or here. In addition, if you have information concerning mismanagement, or waste, fraud, and abuse within our VA system, please contact Senator McCain’s office at 602-952-2410 or here.

2.5 - WBBM (CBS-2, Video): VA Crisis Hotline Puts Suicidal Chicago Vet On Hold (1 March, Jim Williams, 758k online visitors/mo; Chicago, IL)

Every day 22 veterans kill themselves, and every day some of them reach out for help. But recently, as CBS 2’s Jim Williams reports, that help wasn’t there when they needed it most.

Chicagoan Dedra Clady, an Army veteran, honorably discharged, was facing unemployment and mounting bills and the haunting memory of a sexual assault that happened shortly before she joined the service.

Clady said her family made her feel like it was her fault, making her think there was only one way out.

“I went to my kitchen, retrieved a small knife went back to my living room, sat on the floor and contemplated slitting my wrist,” she said.

Clady, desperate, called the Veterans Crisis Hot Line. She said she was put on hold twice and insists an agent was never put on the line.

“I’m in need of help and there’s no one here,” she said.

It’s a story all too familiar to veterans’ advocates.

“When somebody needs help, the help has to be there,” said Bruce Parry of the Coalition of Veterans Organizations. Parry has been complaining about problems with the crisis line for two years. His group sent a letter to Washington D.C. urging immediate action.

“We wonder how many people died while we’re doing investigations over a two year period?” he said.

During the hot line’s peak hours, a veteran in crisis could get transferred to another facility that handles overflow calls. Critics say that’s when a lot of the problems start.

“In some cases veterans didn’t get an answer, the phone wasn’t answered and in some cases the responder was not properly trained,” Parry said.

Allegations confirmed in a recent inspector general’s report.

“What they’ve seen is astronomical growth in the number of calls that are coming in and I don’t think they’ve expanded at the rate that it needs to be expanded,” Parry said.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 21 2 March 2016

With the help of friends and a church group, Clady recovered. Today, she has a good job, but she wants other veterans to get help when the need it most.

“I felt helpless,” she said.

Parry urged that the Veteran Administration hire more staff for the crisis hotline and that’s exactly what the VA told us it’s doing. As well, the VA says it’ll upgrade the phone system, vowing that by the year’s end every veteran in crisis will have their call answered promptly by an experienced responder.

2.6 - KOB (NBC-4, Video): VA trying to locate rural veterans who need services (1 March, Devin Neeley, 573k online visitors/mo; Albuquerque, NM)

There is a new push to find New Mexico's veterans living in rural areas who may be in need of help.

“It has been a long time coming; it’s going to be an asset to native veterans,” said Leon Curley.

Tuesday, a ribbon cutting was held at the Shiprock Veterans Center for a rural outreach program. The program is dedicated to finding veterans living in rural areas, previously unregistered, and signing them up with the Veterans Administration - veterans like Leon Curley.

“Just didn't know it was there. I was never given anything saying you have benefits, you deserve this, and I wasn't looking for a hand out so I didn't ever look into it,” said Curley. Curley served in the US Marine Corps from 1975-1981. He knows all too well now how important VA services are.

“I use the VA clinic a lot yes, now,” he said.

He says he knows there are plenty of vets who need to be signed up -- young and old -- and that is exactly what New Mexico Department Of Veterans' Services Rural Coordination Program plans to do.

“We are going door to door, we are going to chapter house, cafes, churches,” said NM DVS Secretary Jack Fox.

Fox says at least 10 percent of New Mexico's population is veterans and there is a high concentration in the northwest part of the state.

“We know in working with the Navajo Nation that there is a high percentage of veterans that have not registered,” Fox said.

But Shiprock isn't the only area to be targeted.

“We are going to go everywhere in rural New Mexico where somebody will be,” said Fox.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 22 2 March 2016

“It's about time, I’m glad it’s here,” said Curley.

2.7 - KARE (NBC-11): VA Report: Wait time claims 'not substantiated' (1 March, Steve Eckert and A.J. Lagoe, 548k online visitors/mo; Golden Valley, MN)

An internal investigation has failed to confirm claims made in 2014 of wait time manipulation at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.

In September 2014, two former VA employees told KARE 11 that that they were pressured to falsify appointment dates to hide long delays in patient care.

A new report issued by the VA’s Office of Inspector General says their “allegations were not substantiated.”

But the accuracy of the OIG’s investigations of whistleblower claims are coming under fire from another federal agency.

Just last week, the Office of Special Counsel charged that two other recent wait time investigations appear “intended to discredit whistleblowers” rather than reveal problems.

In a February 25 letter to President Obama, Special Counsel Carolyn N. Lerner was sharply critical of the way the VA’s internal watchdog investigated allegations that Department of Veterans Affairs officials in Illinois and Louisiana had violated scheduling protocols to mask delays in veteran’s access to care.

Lerner told the White House that the Inspector General’s investigations “resulted in inadequate reviews that failed to address the whistleblowers’ legitimate concerns about access to care.”

Although the new report about wait times at the Minneapolis VA was just released Monday, records show the OIG actually completed its investigation on June 26, 2015, nearly eight months ago.

That was just days before VA’s chief watchdog announced his resignation amid mounting criticism that his agency had been “whitewashing” investigations.

Local VA officials declined KARE 11’s interview request about the newly released findings, but Minneapolis VA Health Care System Director Patrick Kelly issued a written statement. “We very much appreciate the release of reports by OIG and the confirmation of no wrongdoing on the part of our employees,” he wrote.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 23 2 March 2016

In October 1985, Richard J. Pieri was charged in the hit-and-run death of a veteran near the Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital.

Now, 30 years later, he’s facing reckless endangerment charges after allegedly staggering into that same hospital and aiding in emergency surgery as an operating room nurse after drinking four or five beers at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino. The 59-year-old Drums resident faces DUI and public drunkenness charges as well.

And while there was no mention of suspected alcohol use by Pieri in archived Times Leader stories about the hit-and-run death, Pieri’s estranged wife has pointed to his alleged alcohol use in a Protection From Abuse application she filed last year, claiming that he had been abusive to her after he had been drinking.

To top it off, although police say Pieri admitted to being drunk while on call, it will take the VA Medical Center up to nine months to dole out disciplinary action such as termination from his job, the Times Leader learned Tuesday.

It took police just nine days to investigate and charge Pieri in the death of 65-year-old George Knorr in 1985.

The hit-and-run

According to Times Leader archives, Knorr, of Scranton, died after he was struck by a vehicle the night of Sept. 25. The Luzerne County coroner determined the cause of death to be a broken neck, and the manner of death a homicide.

A day after the accident, police seized a red pickup at the Wilkeswood Apartments in Wilkes- Barre Township and said they had a suspect in Knorr’s death. They said the suspect did not turn himself in, but was cooperating. Police were awaiting test results to see if there was a match between the paint on the pickup and paint found on Knorr’s body.

Pieri was arrested on Oct. 3, 1985, and charged with an accident involving death or personal injury — a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of a $2,500 fine and/or a year in jail.

Township police considered lodging a charge of vehicular homicide or manslaughter, but they determined the death was not the result of gross negligence, an officer had told the Times Leader.

The officer said Knorr, 65, of Scranton, was wearing dark clothing and was walking close to the roadway at about 10:50 p.m. in a dimly lit area when he was struck. The officer also said Pieri had not been driving recklessly.

Pieri posted $5,000 bail and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The charges were forwarded to Luzerne County Court, but the outcome of the case could not be determined Tuesday. A search for court records proved fruitless.

The protection order

The only court records that could readily be found for Pieri — other than a 2014 speeding ticket to which he pleaded guilty — was a Protection From Abuse order dated Oct. 26, 2015.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 24 2 March 2016

Pieri’s wife, Judy, petitioned the court for the order, claiming that Pieri “apparently had been drinking” on the evening of Oct. 23 and, when she arrived home from a dinner with relatives, thought he was sleeping.

Judy Pieri wrote in the application that she checked her husband’s cellphone and wallet “to try to check what he had been up to” because “he tells me nothing and I find myself snooping just to get information.” But, apparently, Pieri was awake and angry that she disturbed his wallet and cellphone, she wrote.

Judy Pieri alleged that her husband pushed and shoved her down a hallway, that the two of them struggled and that her husband twice told her he would kill her. She wrote that Richard pushed her into a chair and that she kicked him away using both legs, causing him to drop to the ground and fracture one of his wrists.

A judge ordered Pieri to turn over firearms that his wife had said were stored in a bedroom closet, but they were returned to him after a subsequent hearing he requested on the matter.

Pieri’s wife hung up on a reporter when he called her and identified himself as a journalist.

Pieri did not personally return a message seeking comment on Tuesday, but his attorney, Kim Borland, returned the call and left a message for the reporter. There was no answer at the office number Borland left and he did not return a subsequent message left on his cellphone voice mail.

The discipline process

As to what’s next for Pieri, a summons was issued for him to appear before District Judge Joseph D. Spagnuolo Jr. on March 29 for a preliminary hearing on the reckless endangerment, DUI and public drunkenness charges.

In the meantime, Pieri, who has been licensed as a registered nurse since March 1979, remains employed by the VA Medical Center pending administrative action, although not in a patient care position.

The Times Leader on Tuesday acquired an email from the Department of Veterans Affairs outlining the process.

According to the email, the VA can take “a major adverse action that is appealable to a Disciplinary Appeals Board” related to alleged employee misconduct. A major adverse action includes a suspension, transfer, reduction in grade, reduction in basic pay, and discharge.

After all evidence is obtained and an investigation is complete, a proposal notice must be drafted by Human Resources, and is typically reviewed by District Counsel before it’s issued to the employee. The employee has seven to 30 days to respond in writing, and the VA must issue a written decision within 21 days of the employee’s response. The employee has 30 days to appeal the decision. If that happens, a Disciplinary Appeals Board is appointed and has 120 days to conduct a hearing and issue a report. The Under Secretary for Health or Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health has 90 days to review the report and issue a decision to the appellant, the email states.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 25 2 March 2016

The entire appeals process can take up to 270 days.

That doesn’t sit well with U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

“Almost every day we are reminded that the federal civil service system is designed to coddle and protect corrupt and incompetent employees and that the Obama administration’s refusal to address this dysfunctional status quo is doing real harm to veterans and taxpayers,” Miller said in a prepared statement.

“The latest installment in this depressing saga is VA’s confirmation that it will take nearly a year at a minimum to discipline Pieri for something he’s already admitted to. Enough is enough,” Miller said.

Miller said it’s time for VA to “get behind commonsense congressional proposals like the House- passed VA Accountability Act, which would enable VA to quickly purge corrupt and incompetent employees from the payroll and prevent convicted felons from sneaking out the back door with full taxpayer-funded pensions.”

“Until then, situations like this, in which taxpayers are forced to subsidize bad behavior, will only continue,” Miller said.

The VA Accountability Act would give the VA secretary the authority to swiftly fire or demote any employee for poor performance or misconduct while protecting whistleblowers and limiting the agency’s ability to place misbehaving employees on paid leave. It would also give VA the ability to recover annuities on pensions of VA employees convicted of felonies committed on the job. It passed the House in July 2015 and is pending in the Senate.

2.9 - WPEC (CBS-12, Video): Report: VA Medical Center violated policy (1 March, Al Pefley, 380k online visitors/mo; West Palm Beach, FL)

Another black eye for the Veterans Affairs Administration.

A new report shows the medical center in Riviera Beach is among those VA hospitals that manipulated wait times to make the facility look better.

The findings are spelled out in a report just released by the VA Office of Inspector General in Washington.

And it says when staff set veterans' appointments, some things were done improperly.

Federal investigators looked at scheduling practices at the WPB VA Medical Center going back to 2014 and found that policy in some cases was violated.

Veterans who wanted to see a doctor were supposed to get an appointment within 14 days.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 26 2 March 2016

But if schedulers didn't have a date open in that two week period, they would use the next available appointment date.

But the hospital would enter the appointment into the computer as the date the veteran requested.

This practice of manipulating wait times doesn't sit well with some vets.

"Nothing with this administration surprises me. Nothing at all," said Herbert Loreti, a veteran from West Palm Beach.

"I don't think it's a good idea. These guys have enough problems being seen when they need to be seen," said Robert Ratuis, a veteran from Boynton Beach.

The report says one VA employee told investigators quote: "Her supervisors taught her how to game the system."

The WPB VA Medical Center denies that -- and says nothing improper was done, at least not intentionally.

The center emailed us this statement: "The 2014 investigation did not substantiate that West Palm Beach VA management directed staff to inappropriately schedule clinic appointments."

And leaders at the center say they've dealt with it through on-going training and on-going scheduling reviews.

The bottom line, the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center says no one here intentionally scheduled appointments to meet the 14 day goal.

A spokeswoman at the WPB VA Medical Center says if there were inappropriately scheduled appointments, it was due to the volume of appointments that are made each day.

With so many appointments she said, there could be an error. She said they're working on updating their scheduling software to lessen chances for mistakes.

2.10 - WXOW (ABC-19, Video): Veterans address officials at Tomah VA town hall (1 March, Ginna Roe, 351k online visitors/mo; La Crescent, MN)

Veterans who use the Tomah VA Medical Center for their health care had the chance to take their concerns straight to the top officials Tuesday night.

The Department of Veterans Affairs held a town hall forum. It's all part of an attempt to rebuild a facility that's come under great scrutiny over the last year, primarily due to the prescription drug scandal and retaliation against those who complained.

With over 50 veterans in attendance, a recurring concern among a number of vets was problems with the VA Choice Program.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 27 2 March 2016

That program allows veterans already enrolled in VA heath care to receive care within their community without having to travel to a VA facility. They must either live over 40 miles away or have been waiting for VA care for more than 30 days.

Veterans expressed frustration with the Choice Program's paperwork problems and month long waits before they could even schedule an appointment.

Younger veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan also expressed concerns about not feeling welcome at the VA.

"When I went to Iraq and Afghanistan they taught me the local language, they taught me the customs, they taught me to communicate with someone that I may not know the experiences of," Catherine Threat said.

"The biggest problem I have with the VA or any medical center right now is they don't really know how to communicate. You know, figure out my language," Threat served in Iraq in 2010 and in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013. She now receives medical care at the VA.

But not everyone was dissatisfied with their experience at Tomah VA. A number of veterans expressed gratitude, saying they were pleased with their years of service.

"This VA has some good quality care and I know what was happening in the past they are trying to rebound from that and hopefully they can do that," Tom Flock, Navy Vet and Tomah VA Outpatient said.

VA Acting Director Victoria Brahm attempted to answer every question Tuesday night. She's vowed to get back to every single veteran that has expressed concern. She said change won't happen overnight.

"Culture, we're changing culture. So culture takes two to five years to change fully. We're already seeing this amazingly in 100 days. We are seeing satisfaction results. We are seeing a support from veterans that is amazing," Brahm said.

Brahm added the VA still has a long way to go. She took over as Acting Director in October. Her goal is to rebuild a foundation and team of leaders. While it may not happen overnight, Brahm said she's already beginning to see change.

The next VA town hall meeting is in Wausau in June.

2.11 - Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Zinke newest co-sponsor on bill allowing in vitro for disabled vets (1 March, Troy Carter, 298k online visitors/mo; Bozeman, MT)

Republican Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow disabled veterans to receive in vitro fertilization from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 28 2 March 2016

The legislation covers only “veterans whose disability includes an injury to the reproductive organs or the spinal cord that directly results in the veteran being unable to procreate,” according to the bill’s summary. The spouses of such veterans are allowed a maximum of six fertilization attempts in three in vitro cycles.

Current law directs the VA to not provide women with infertility or abortion services.

The bill, titled House Resolution 2557, would also give the VA authority to store genetic material for up to three years, but precludes any benefits relating to surrogacy or egg/sperm donors.

Zinke became the 18th co-sponsor Monday, including 10 Democrats and eight Republicans.

There’s a personal element for Zinke, who told the Chronicle on Tuesday that a friend from the Navy lost both of his legs to a land mine and probably won’t be able to reproduce.

“A disabled veteran that sacrificed for our country should not sacrifice the opportunity to be a father or a mother,” he said.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, introduced the measure last spring. He told the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee that IVF is so costly — an estimated $16,000 — that disabled veterans face forgoing parenthood or financial hardship.

If approved, the Congressional Budget Office expects the in vitro treatments to cost approximately $578 million over four years.

But it’s not costs that are keeping the bill from advancing. The controversial measure is stuck because of opposition from anti-abortion groups who oppose in vitro fertilization, a spokeswoman for the subcommittee said Tuesday. A similar measure was blocked in the Senate last year.

“This is about as pro-life of a bill as you can get,” Zinke said. “It is ironic because this is about as pro-life, pro-family of a bill as I’ve read.”

2.12 - The Town Talk: Extravaganza in Pineville set to thank veterans (1 March, Richard Sharkey, 211k online visitors/mo; Alexandria, LA)

Thank you, veterans.

That is the message of the VA Lagniappe Extravaganza, an event scheduled for Saturday in Pineville to show appreciation and respect for veterans and their families.

“We don’t do enough for our veterans. They gave up so much for us to have these freedoms. It’s our turn to show some gratitude toward them,” Elaine Setliff said.

Setliff owns Louisiana Lagniappe Realty in Alexandria, which is co-sponsoring the event.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 29 2 March 2016

The VA Lagniappe Extravaganza will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Country Inn & Suites, 2727 Monroe Highway (U.S. Highway 165) in Pineville.

Lunch will be provided for veterans, active-duty military and their families. Entertainment will be provided for children in a “Fun Zone,” including games, face painting and balloon animals, and each child will receive a prize.

The program will offer services related to housing for veterans, with real estate agents, mortgage lenders and home inspector Jared Stevens of InspectPro. Barksdale Federal Credit Union and InspectPro are co-sponsoring the event with Louisiana Lagniappe Realty.

Many veterans don’t “realize they can use their DD 214 (discharge certificate) more than one time” to get a VA-guaranteed loan, she said.

But all veterans, active-duty military and their families are invited to Saturday’s event whether they are interested in housing services or not, Setliff emphasized. Those planning to eat lunch are asked to RSVP at 318-448-4400.

She is expecting about 250 veterans and their families to attend. Those attending should bring proof that they are veterans, active-duty military or family members.

During Saturday’s event, Louisiana Lagniappe Realty will make a donation to the Rapides Parish Vet Center. The center, located at 5803 Coliseum Blvd., Suite D, in Alexandria provides free services and counseling to veterans on issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sexual trauma/harassment as well as services to family members of veterans.

Representatives of the Vet Center, Veterans Affairs and other veterans organizations will be on hand with information about available services.

Helping veterans is a family tradition for Setliff. Her father, a Korean War veteran, went out of his way to help veterans, she said.

“I think between what Mama and Daddy taught us as children has carried through, and so as my business grew, we made a big point of giving to our veterans. It occurred to me last year that I needed to step up to the plate and do more,” Setliff said.

“I lost a client last year to PTSD, and it dawned on me that we have so many veterans that don’t have a support staff, they don’t have anybody to help them.”

The event is intended to let veterans known they are appreciated and to raise awareness about issues of concern to veterans.

“Many people don’t realize we have homeless veterans here, people who have gone to different countries to fight for our freedoms … and nobody says thank you to them,” Setliff said.

She hopes homeless veterans will be among those attending Saturday so that they might learn about housing options.

Any business or individual wishing to contribute to help veterans at Saturday’s event with prizes or a donation to the Vet Center should contact Louisiana Lagniappe Realty.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 30 2 March 2016

2.13 - The Leaf-Chronicle: VETERANS VOICE: Be prepared to back up VA claim (1 March Sandy Britt, 210k online visitors/mo; Clarksville, TN)

It’s important veterans understand what a “well-grounded claim” for disability compensation or other VA benefits means. Simply, it means you’ve provided needed evidence to successfully support your claim. If your claim isn’t well-grounded, it will be denied.

For a service-connected disability compensation claim, you must provide current medical evidence and diagnosis of a chronic disability and show how the disability is related to service, or that the claimed condition is a secondary or residual condition of a disability you are already service-connected for, or is a “presumptive” condition such as those related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

In most cases, service medical records (SMRs) will contain evidence that the claimed condition first arose and was diagnosed on active duty. You do not have to submit SMRs yourself, as VA will already have them or request them from the National Personnel Records Center.

Chronic conditions are just that: disabilities one will always have, as opposed to injuries such as sprains or strains which are considered “acute and transitory” and have resolved with no ongoing disability.

Veterans who file claims upon separation or retirement will have their claims decided based on evidence in their service medical records and results of VA Compensation & Pension Examinations. Claims filed years after leaving active duty should include post-service medical evidence of continuing treatment and a current diagnosis of the claimed condition.

Reasons a claim is denied include: no evidence of a current diagnosis, or no evidence that the claimed condition began, was treated or was diagnosed during service.

An example of a claim that is not well-grounded: A veteran was seen once or twice on active duty for complaints of knee pain. The only treatment was Motrin and notes of a “sprain.” Ten years after retirement, the veteran is diagnosed with knee arthritis and files a claim, including evidence of the current diagnosis. This claim will be denied, because though the veteran now has a chronic knee disability, there’s no evidence a mild sprain 10 years prior led to the arthritis and because any number of things could have happened to the knee since leaving service.

However, if a veteran files a claim for a painful knee during out-processing from active duty and the VA C&P examiner notes the veteran has pain on motion or finds other abnormalities, he’s likely to be granted service-connection based on a diagnosis by the C&P examiner.

In some cases, it’s possible to get service-connection for conditions years later even though SMRs may not contain enough evidence. For example, if your doctor provides a medical opinion that links a current diagnosed disability to service with a sound rationale, such as the veteran’s numerous parachute jumps more likely than not led to his knee arthritis due to the known wear- and-tear jumping puts on the knee joints, the medical opinion provides the needed evidence and nexus between a current chronic condition and military service.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 31 2 March 2016

Numerous factors may be involved in filing well-grounded claims, depending on the specifics of a particular case, so it’s best to consult with an experienced veterans service officer who can explain what may be needed in order for your claim to be successful.

2.14 - WEAU (NBC-13, Video): Tomah VA holds town-hall meeting (1 March, Amanda Tyler, 177k online visitors/mo; Eau Claire, WI)

The Department of Veteran's Affairs is hoping a series of town-hall style meetings will help them improve communication with veterans. One of those town-hall events was held Tuesday night at the Tomah VA.

Veterans at the event spoke about their concerns getting timely care and having their requests heard. Many veterans also expressed their frustrations with the Veteran’s Choice program.

“My follow-up care has always been good. I can't complain about that. It's a matter of getting the surgery done soon. That's what frustrates me,” veteran Lamonte Burkhalter.

While some veterans expressed concerns at the town-hall event, others praised the VA for their service.

“People who haven't served will never understand it. There’s camaraderie. It’s what we felt when we were serving together and we still have it when we come to the VA and it's brothers in arms,” Navy veteran Rob Hilliard explained. The acting director of the Tomah VA says they are working hard to make long-term changes to ensure quality care.

“I think that we're already seeing changes on the quality of care we have great data showing that our quality of care is good,” acting Tomah VA director Victoria Brahm said.

At the end of November, the VA set out a new 100-day plan aimed at improving access to care, employee relations, and rebuilding trust.

Brahm says all of the main goals of the plan have been accomplished. She added the VA expects to release a report of its results in the coming months.

2.15 - The St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County commissioners approve up to $50K for VA clinic analysis (1 March, Sheldon Gardner, 159k online visitors/mo; St. Augustine, FL)

St. Johns County commissioners unanimously approved spending up to $50,000 to find out what it would take to build a veterans clinic.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 32 2 March 2016

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to work with the county to build a permanent clinic near the Health and Human Services Center at 200 San Sebastian View, though no contract has been signed yet.

The first step for the county is understanding the cost, which could be much higher than what the county is used to paying for buildings.

Kevin Wiseman, county director of facilities management, described the need on Tuesday.

“The deliverable that we need to bring back to the board is the cost of doing business with the feds,” Wiseman said as he held up a binder thick with information. “And that’s what this is.”

The county has received information on the cost to build according to federal government standards. A recently provided example cited a 31,000-square-foot building in Louisiana that cost more than $26 million, said Wiseman. That would be four times what the county would spend if the work was done according to Florida building code, he said.

VA guidelines are complex, and the county needs a contractor to analyze the guidelines and provide a report on costs because the county doesn’t have the staff to do it, Wiseman previously said.

Commissioners voiced support for the effort.

“This has been a long, long, long, long road, and you guys have hung in there, you’ve stayed strong for our vets, and I really, really appreciate it,” Commissioner Rachael Bennett said.

The road stretches back to 2011, when the county informed the VA that the clinic might have to move from 1955 U.S. 1 South. The county ended up sealing a deal with Lowe’s to sell the property and set a deadline for the VA to move, but the VA moved later than the deadline. Now the clinic is at a temporary location at 195 Southpark Blvd.

Commissioners supported the expense.

“I think that $50,000 to do a due diligence to make sure the county is in good standing at the end of this process is money well spent,” Bennett said. “Our veterans are certainly worth it.”

Wiseman said previously that the cost of the analysis is expected to be about $40,000.

Commissioner Bill McClure questioned what happens if the county and the VA can’t settle on a price.

Wiseman said that the county “will have spent money. It’s the cost of doing business.” But if the county moves forward, the cost of the analysis might be recouped within the lease agreement, Wiseman said.

In 2014, the VA did not accept an offer from the county to build the permanent clinic for $5 million. The VA cited a need to have a competitive process.

Bennett said Tuesday the county probably won’t see a $5 million estimate come back this time. At the time of the offer, the county already had construction underway with the health center and would have had “an economy of scale and timing” in building the clinic.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 33 2 March 2016

As part of their vote Tuesday, commissioners also approved allowing county officials to submit a proposal to the VA.

2.16 - WJAX (CBS-47, Video): Action News Jax Investigates: Wait times for VA Choice (1 March, Paige Kelton, 147k online visitors/mo; Jacksonville, FL)

Local veterans, still waiting for medical treatment. Action News Jax is uncovering problems with the new program meant to reduce wait times.

Local veterans tell us VA Choice doesn't work. Through VA Choice, or Health Net as it is called in Jacksonville, veterans said it's harder to get treatment through Health Net than it is their VA doctor.

When we asked a spokesman for specific information about how many veterans have received service through the program, he couldn't tell us.

When VA wait times soared nationwide, Congress created the Choice program, allowing veterans to go outside the VA to see any doctor who signs up.

Thomas Leonard, a disabled Army vet, said he was referred to an orthopedic surgeon through Health Net last December.

"Every time I call to talk to them, I’m on hold with them from anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and they say ‘we'll have someone call you within three days,’ and I haven't got one yet," Leonard said.

Two months later, he's still waiting for an appointment.

We spoke to a woman, we'll call her Brenda, who works for a doctor who's part of the Health Net program. She asked we not show her face on camera.

Brenda: "I'm still waiting for authorizations to come through which I requested back in September.”

Action News Jax’s Paige Kelton: “And this is the program designed to get veterans in faster?”

Brenda: “Correct.”

Kelton: “And it's not working?”

Brenda: “Correct."

Brenda said veterans and doctors were duped into thinking VA Choice would be easy.

“They didn't tell patients that when you go see a specialist you can only go for an evaluation you can't get treatment," Brenda said.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 34 2 March 2016

Brenda said to get treatment, a request has to go from the doctor, to Health Net, to the VA for approval, back through Health Net to the doctor. That can take weeks.

We caught up with Rep. Corrine Brown, who was a big proponent of VA Choice.

Action News Jax: "We’re getting some word that people say it’s no better than before.”

Brown: “That's not true."

Brown wouldn't admit there was a problem but she did say, "I've heard the complaints."

We called Health Net to get answers: The response was puzzling.

Kelton: "So you can't tell me if you keep track of the number of people coming through Health Net or how long it takes to get an appointment?"

A spokesman for Health Net admitted the numbers probably exist, but refused to provide them. When we pressed him for an explanation, he sent us a generic statement saying essentially this is a "team effort” and Health Net is working to "improve service levels."

Kelton: One veteran said it is more difficult to get an appointment through Health Net than it is through the VA.

“It's a program that's growing," said Dr. Melinda Screws, Chief Medical Officer, for Jacksonville's Outpatient VA Clinic. "I think it's working and I think we've seen progress, I don’t know that I would say it's OK, but we're moving in the right direction."

Leonard would argue, that direction leads in circles.

“It's aggravating when you can't even hardly use your left shoulder, and left arm and stuff, it's hard," Leonard said.

With help from Rep. Ander Crenshaw's office, we were able to get the assistant director for the VA system in our area on the phone. He was surprised at Health Net's response and said he would look into it.

Brenda said she can spend half her day dealing with Health Net for one patient. She worries frustrated doctors may drop the program, leaving local vets waiting for care.

In the meantime, Jacksonville’s VA outpatient clinic continues to expand. Next week, it will open up the remaining 12,000 square feet of its new 20,000-square-foot facility. It will house mental health services along with primary care physicians.

2.17 - Rapid City Journal (Hot Springs Star): VA fight continues (1 March, John D. Taylor, 129k online visitors/mo; Rapid City, SD)

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 35 2 March 2016

Save the VA committee members Pat Russell, Bob Nelson and Don Ackerman were not so enthusiastic about what they heard at what they believe will be the final U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health Care System (VA/BHHCS) consulting parties meeting, held last month.

During the Jan. 21 meeting, all three men saw hints of what Nelson described as “new directions” in the conversations about what will happen with Hot Springs’ Battle Mountain VA facility in the future.

This included two “huge” admissions by the VA:

•That the facility could be made Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.

•The VA saying decisions about what happens to Hot Springs were not “about the money.”

Both of these claims were often the basis of justifications for the VA’s desire to shutter Hot Springs VA.

February’s meeting, however, yielded far fewer warm and fuzzy feelings between the VA and the consulting parties, according to Russell, Nelson and Ackerman.

The one positive thing that came from it was another extension of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) comment period, through May 5 now.

But Russell said the rest of the meeting left him “disappointed.”

Meeting purpose

A consulting parties meeting, according to the VA, is designed to facilitate a process of “seeking, discussing, and considering” other participants views, and, “seeking agreement with them.” The goal is “to foster a discussion” that evaluates alternatives, and ways to “avoid, minimize or mitigate” adverse effects on historic properties.

But this wasn’t happening, according to Russell, Ackerman and Neslon.

From Russell’s perspective, the meeting seemed like representatives for R. Christopher Goodwin & Assoc., Inc., a new subcontractor for Labat Environmental, Inc., had fallen under the VA central office’s spell and were trying to use the flawed data the VA has been gathering to again justify closing Hot Springs.

“There was no discussion about changes and the impact of this on the different alternatives,” Russell said. “If the VA can be rehabbed to meet ADA, then we should have gone back into the alternatives and discussed this. But it didn’t happen.”

“It was significantly difficult to listen to them,” Nelson said.

“I really saw the light in January,” said Ackerman. “They were asking all the right things, and the guy from Washington, D.C. was really looking at the meat of this.”

But at the February meeting, Ackerman said, those running it were “going on what the central office’s directions were going to be.”

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 36 2 March 2016

“It was insulting,” he said. “They were walking through the same stuff, not looking at the real impact on people. But they got schooled.”

‘One brick at a time’

Ackerman, Nelson and Russell – and recently, at a U.S. Senate Veteran’s Affairs committee meeting, Sen. Mike Rounds and American Legion officials – say that the VA has been involved in the “systematic dismantling” of the Hot Springs VA since the mid-1990s. Russell said that while the VA failed to close Hot Springs in 2011, the agency has been taking it apart one brick at a time, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy to justify shuttering it.

Russell, Nelson, Ackerman, the American Legion, VA patients, staff and numerous other people say the VA has skewed information to justify closing the facility because earlier VA/BHHCS leaders didn’t like smaller VAs.

When the basic foundations of the VA’s data for justifying closing the facility are built on lies and skewed figures, Ackerman and Russell said, the whole process should come tumbling down, but it hasn’t – yet.

For example, one VA justification for closing Hot Springs was few veterans use the facility because it is far away from urban centers. The VA points to only five inpatients using the domiciliary daily as proof of this. Why maintain Hot Springs when so few use it, argued VA Director Robert McDonald and Under-Secretary Sloan Gibson?

The reason only five inpatients daily use Hot Springs daily, Russell said, is because edicts from VA/BHHCS in Sturgis only allow Hot Springs to have five inpatients daily. If a sixth or more inpatient shows up, these people are directed to Fort Meade, in Sturgis, for care. The VA deems this practice necessary “for the safety of the patient,” Russell said.

The actual numbers, he said are more like 17 domiciliary patients needing care daily. However, these five-per-day phony numbers are parroted up the VA chain of command to the central offices in Washington, D.C., and when the federal bean-counters look at the numbers – not people and why the numbers are skewed – they see only five inpatients daily.

Ackerman said this sort of misrepresentation of data has been going on all over the VA — and the Save the VA committee had records of this, proof — since the mid-1990s, when VA Under- Secretary Dr. Robert Petzal was trying to close Hot Springs and began hacking away at the facility’s ability to do its job.

Another example, Ackerman said, is how Hot Springs is forced by VA edicts to ship patients up to Ft. Meade and Rapid City Regional Hospital (a gretaly disliked hospital) by ambulance. This and similar problems ran the cost of operating Hot Springs up by millions of dollars annually, Ackerman said, yet VA numbers show Hot Springs a spendthrift.

Russell described staff cuts and a refusal to fill positions at the Hot Springs VA as an official policy of “lagging and dragging” by the VA: When a position opened, it was often “lagged and dragged” for months at a time, he said. If filling just three part-time positions could be dragged out four months, the VA saved a single full-time position’s wages for an entire year. Meanwhile, veterans were not getting care and the staff was suffering.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 37 2 March 2016

The VA also claims it can’t fill job vacancies because no one wants to come to Hot Springs.

But Russell said many vacancies were not billed as permanent positions, creating an undesirable job. Also, scuttlebutt within the medical community – a product of the one brick at a time dismantling process, Russell says – claims Hot Springs is going to close. Why should highly-qualified medical people want to relocate their family to Hot Springs?

Meanwhile, according to Ackerman, Sioux Falls VA filled a dozen open positions easily. “Now where would you want to relocate?” he asked, “Hot Springs or Sioux Falls?” Studies have shown that many medical professionals prefer smaller, more rural communities.

Another example, Russell said, is how patients being treated at Hot Springs are being erroneously recorded as being Ft. Meade patients, a practice that the VA encouraged, further skewing numbers.

Then there’s professional burnout: Russell, a health care union representative, talked about staff cuts that recduced a staff of 10 a few years ago to just four now, two supervisors and two workers.

Professional dedication and a desire to help veterans, drives the two workers come to work even when sick.

Recently, he said, a worker was reprimanded for not answering the phone when a Ft. Meade VA/BHHCS supervisor called. The worker was caring for a patient at the time, the other worker was out sick, and the healthy worker deemed the patient more important the supervisor.

In 1985, Russell said, Hot Springs had five full-time surgeons, two full time certified registered nurse anesthetists, and 260 patients, with 450 patients in the domiciliary. In 1995, when Hot Springs and Ft. Meade VA were merged into a single entity, BHHCS, the problems began.

“They took away our services,” he said, “surgery, the intensive care unit, the clinics. They couldn’t close us down, so they tried to dismantle us one brick at a time.”

Ackerman again pointed to skewed, false processes in the attempt to close Hot Springs. Veterans, Hot Springs residents, the local, state and national American Legion, historical preservation groups, the county, District 30 state representatives, the Governor, all three South Dakota congressional representatives (Noem, Thune and Rounds), the congressional representatives from Wyoming, Nebraska and North Dakota, the congressional veterans affairs committee – all of these people want the Hot Springs VA to remain open and growing.

“The only person who wants it closed is the central office of the VA,” Ackerman said. “We’re not done. The only way they can win is if we quit. What people need to realize is that we can prove their data is false. They tried to close us in 2011, but we’re still here.”

“That’s important for the community to know,” Nelson agreed. “Their efforts kept us open.”

Futures

Russell said he is looking for the final EIS statement to be presented some time after May, and he’s expecting it to agree with the VA’s preferred option: closing Hot Springs.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 38 2 March 2016

Ackerman quickly countered that this is not the VA’s dying gasp, but that the Save the VA committee always has “three balls in play.”

“We’ve been kicked in the gut more than once,” Ackerman said, “but we’re going to win this because we’re right on this. You can beat city hall – if you’re right. Everyone needs to stay the course. We do this for the veterans, because the veterans say they want it to stay here. This is veterans issue.”

Nelson, remembering, looked back at December of 2012, and noted how far the fight to keep the VA open has progressed.

“We’re not losing,” Ackerman said, “we’re just not winning as fast as we want to. The only way they win is if we quit fighting.”

All three men encouraged people to continue to submit comments to the draft EIS, and be sure to make these comments available to the state’s Congressional delegation.

2.18 - KIOW (FM-108.3): Senators Gillibrand and Ernst Urge Department of Veterans Affairs to Screen Veterans for Food Insecurity (2 March, AJ Taylor, 2.6k online visitors/mo; Forest City, IA)

U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) sent a bipartisan letter urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin screening veterans for food insecurity as part of routine health care screenings. Veterans are at an increased risk for food insecurity, or a lack of reliable access to affordable and nutritious food. Food insecurity is more prevalent among veterans than the general population due in part to higher rates of disability, medical problems, and mental health conditions that may make it more difficult for veterans to maintain an adequate income.

“We owe it to our veterans to do everything we can to ensure that they do not go hungry,” the Senators said. “We believe that veterans would benefit from the VA including a brief screener on food insecurity when veterans seek health care from the VA. Any veteran who claims food insecurity can be referred to a social worker, who can then assist the veteran in completing paper work for SNAP or other resources. The addition of this screener is simple, requires little of the VA, and has the potential to help prevent millions of veterans and their families from going hungry.”

Food insecurity is particularly high among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 27 percent of veterans from these wars reported difficulty with food insecurity, while 14.5 percent of the general U.S. population struggle with food insecurity. Despite the higher rates of food insecurity among veterans, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) use among veterans is considerably lower than the general population. Potential reasons for underuse among veterans may include stigma associated with SNAP, lack of information about the program, and difficulty navigating the application process. Screening for food insecurity at the VA can help address each of these barriers.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 39 2 March 2016

3. Ending Veterans’ Homelessness

3.1 - Los Angeles Times: Dog park and other tenants fight to remain on VA land in West L.A. (1 March, Gale Holland, 25.6M online visitors/mo; Los Angeles, CA)

Pet owners arrived at the Brentwood dog park one October morning to find that federal police had chained the gate shut.

It turned out that the park is operated by the city of Los Angeles, but the land is federal — part of the Veterans Affairs Department's West Los Angeles medical campus.

The next day, the chains came off, thanks to a Brentwood dog walker with a well-connected client, several park regulars said.

But the incident called attention to sidelight effect of the VA's promise in January to overhaul the campus with a sweeping plan to build housing for homeless veterans.

Barrington Park, which includes the dog park, is now among a handful of tenants fighting to hang on to their leases as the VA begins to transform the 388-acre campus in the wealthy Westside neighborhood into a model veterans' village.

Though the land was deeded to the government in 1888 as a home for disabled soldiers, federal officials over the decades allowed buildings to sit empty while they parceled out land rights to dozens of commercial and nonprofit interests.

In 2013, nine leases were struck down by a federal judge who said they had nothing to do with medical care for veterans, and many advocates thought most tenants would be swept out.

But after a lobbying campaign in Los Angeles and Washington, UCLA and the VA reached a deal in January for Jackie Robinson Stadium — home to Bruins baseball — to stay on the property.

The city and the private Brentwood School are among the tenants negotiating with the VA to protect their turf. The VA had pledged to formulate "exit strategies" for leaseholders that were not "veteran-centric" — the dog park and ball fields among them.

"They've all lobbied up and lawyered up," Vincent Kane, special assistant to VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald, said of the leaseholders. "They saw the plan, they know the veterans want the land back, and they're talking now."

Even shopkeepers in the adjoining Brentwood Village are going "veteran-centric" — proposing to "rebrand" their customer and employee parking area as "veterans' parking lots."

"If this was supposed to show the VA had changed, they're moving in the wrong direction," said Sean Smith, a Navy veteran.

The VA says that only tenants that pay fair market rent and offer direct benefits to veterans and their families will be allowed to remain. Commercial tenants — including a hotel laundry service

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 40 2 March 2016

and a movie-set storage lot — have been ousted and other leaseholders have received exit notices.

The Brentwood School says it has offered veterans "ample" access to 20 acres of the campus where it built its state-of-the-art athletic complex, including a pool, weight room, ball fields, and basketball and tennis courts.

The school in a November letter also said it had paid $5 million in rent over 16 years and touted its "outstanding, supportive relationship ... [including] countless hours of direct service to veterans, as well as substantial physical improvement and pristine maintenance of land."

Kane said the school has started sharing its basketball courts with veterans, who held a tournament there last fall.

The Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce has proposed that veterans run the parking lots and collect the receipts. The chamber's seven-point plan suggests the lots be used to train veterans in "booth/lot management, security, facilities maintenance, public affairs, crossing guard, concierge [services] and car washing/detailing."

Some veterans were not impressed.

"A few backdoor conversations and lending your gym to a few veterans in treatment does not make you a partner," veteran Jim Zenner said.

Many veterans believe the VA negotiated a good deal with UCLA.

"UCLA brings something sufficient to warrant their presence," said California American Legion Department Cmdr. Larry Van Kuran.

The university had leased 10 acres of the VA land, at bargain prices, for 35 years. Its $16.5- milion proposal includes raising its annual stadium rent payments to $300,000 from $60,000.

UCLA has also promised to launch campus legal and family support centers, to provide enhanced addiction and mental health services and to offer technical expertise in the campus building project.

"We believe this is a powerful partnership for veterans," UCLA spokesman Steve Ritea said.

Some veterans complained they were blindsided when UCLA released the terms before they had reviewed them.

Congress must pass a new leasing bill for the VA campus for any deals to become final. The VA says the bill will allow it to partner with nonprofit developers to finance and build the housing.

But some saw the bill as opening the door to more boondoggle leases.

See the most-read stories this hour >> The bill allows the VA "to favor the private interests of UCLA, the Brentwood School and other illegal tenants over the rights of veterans and … exploit veterans' land in a way that would not be possible" if the federal government paid for the housing directly, veteran John Aaron said.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 41 2 March 2016

Dog owners, for their part, feel they are pawns in a political fight not of their making.

"The park is being used as collateral for the injustices of the past," said Alex Davis, 28.

The Barrington ball fields opened in 1979 on a VA permit, city spokeswoman Rose Watson said. The dog park was added in 2002.

The city Recreation and Parks Department's lease with the VA expired in 1991, but the city continued to run facilities rent-free on a month-to-month basis, covering maintenance and operations costs.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, who supported keeping the dog park and ball fields, said resident access is "conditional" and could end if the VA has other plans.

"The West L.A. VA is here, first and foremost, to serve our veterans," Connie Llanos, the mayor's spokeswoman, said in a statement. "The mayor is also committed to ensuring that open space is put to good community use."

Kane said veterans could use the dog park to start a kennel, train therapy animals or learn the dog-walking business.

At the dog park one afternoon last month, most pet owners said they would welcome veterans to join them.

"I'm certainly not against vets," said Nick Miller, who came with his dog Heidi. "A lot of vets have dogs."

Some were optimistic a compromise could be reached.

"Parents are not going to go east of the 405 to watch their kids play ball, let's face it," Annie Nakamura said. "C'mon, it's Brentwood."

San Diego took what city leaders described as a bold step on Tuesday toward ending veteran homelessness, a chronic local problem that other cities across the nation have had more success tackling in recent years.

The City Council unanimously approved a multi-pronged, $12.5 million campaign to get 1,000 veterans off the streets by the end of the year.

It includes incentives for landlords to rent to homeless veterans, 400 federal housing vouchers, financial assistance for security deposits and ongoing support services after move-in.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 42 2 March 2016

A federal veterans official said the campaign appears to include all of the strategies necessary to help San Diego sharply reduce veteran homelessness as effectively as other large cities, such as Philadelphia, Houston, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

He said, however, that the campaign’s success would probably hinge on whether local landlords embrace its financial incentives.

San Diego has the most homeless veterans of any city in the nation except the two largest, New York and Los Angeles, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A "point-in-time" count last winter found that Los Angeles County had just over 4,000 homeless veterans, while New York had 1,558 and San Diego County had 1,381.

Previous efforts to address the problem in San Diego have suffered from lack of leadership, inefficient use of resources, poor coordination and the region’s unusually high housing costs.

Another setback was the state’s 2011 elimination of redevelopment agencies, which had provided key revenue for low-income housing projects.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has spearheaded the new campaign, said he chose a comprehensive approach requiring significant financial contributions because that is what’s needed.

"The challenges, as I think all of us know, are very complicated," the mayor said. "Many of our homeless veterans unfortunately suffer from mental health or substance abuse issues. Some feel it’s impossible to navigate through the system of care providers and vouchers, and many often find they can’t find a landlord to rent to them."

Faulconer said the campaign, called "Housing Our Heroes," will require strong coordination among public agencies and private sector groups. Those include the San Diego County Apartment Association and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which are officially partners in the campaign.

"We’re all getting behind this effort because we feel strongly that helping veterans is going to continue to be the highest priority with a program that can actually get the results we are looking for," Faulconer said. "We can make a real difference and we are going to."

Sean Karafin, the chamber’s policy director, said the mayor is now providing the necessary leadership to get the business community involved.

"Communities across the nation are ending veteran homelessness with proven strategies, but in San Diego we know we’re not there yet," Karafin said.

Those proven strategies are all included in San Diego’s new campaign, said Dr. Keith Harris, national director of clinical operations, mental health homeless and residential rehabilitation treatment programs for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"This proposal by the mayor contains many of the strategies that we believe are necessary to put cities over the top," said Harris. "A big key is landlord outreach, which is especially important

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 43 2 March 2016

in cities on the West Coast where we see low vacancy rates and, occasionally, landlord reluctance."

Harris said landlords are typically key to homeless campaigns. He said more than 7,000 people with federal housing vouchers still couldn’t land apartments last year, the highest number the VA has ever recorded.

"We can get vouchers in their hands," he said. "What we’ve had problems doing is essentially closing the deal and getting those veterans into an affordable unit."

That’s why the program devotes $4.4 million to landlord outreach.

Landlords will receive $500 for the first apartment they rent to a homeless veteran and $250 for each additional unit. The program also covers security deposits, expected to average $1,500 per unit, and $100 in one-time utility assistance per household.

There is also a contingency fund for any damage homeless veterans might do to a unit. Officials say that should ease the concerns of some landlords reluctant to rent to homeless veterans have bad credit, past evictions or criminal records.

The San Diego Housing Commission, which is partnering with the city on the campaign, will also provide a liaison to answer any questions from landlords.

The campaign also includes $2 million for "rapid re-housing" assistance for homeless veterans who have lost jobs, experienced a medical crisis or been affected by domestic violence.

They will receive the same security deposit and utilities assistance, plus money for rent for as long as two years.

Richard Gentry, chief executive of the Housing Commission, said he hopes many veterans in this program won’t need the full two years and will be back on their feet before the assistance runs out.

The commission plans to post monthly updates on the success of the new campaign on its website.

The remainder of the money, $6.1 million, covers federal housing vouchers and ongoing support services from the housing commissions for veterans after their housing situations are stabilized.

Money for the campaign comes from the commission, the federal government and the city, which is contributing $3 million from the pending sale of downtown’s Hotel Metro and $4 million in lease revenue from the San Diego Square senior housing complex downtown.

Tom Theisen, board chair of Regional Task Force on the Homeless, called the campaign a good start, but said officials should consider extending it beyond the city.

"Homelessness is a regional problem so we really need to start looking to bring everybody into the fold," he said.

Councilman Todd Gloria, whose district includes downtown, said he’s confident in the new campaign because it will be a collective effort including the private sector.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 44 2 March 2016

“When I look across this country and see who’s getting this problem solved, it’s the business community that’s often stepping up and providing some of that secret sauce,” he said.

Gloria said homelessness is the No. 1 issue on the minds of San Diegans, but that residents should be upbeat about the city’s approach.

“This is not a fairy tale,” he said. “We can do this. Other cities are doing this.”

3.3 - Multi-Housing News: Homeless No More: Veteran’s Housing Solutions (1 March, Samantha Goldberg, 118k online visitors/mo; New York, NY)

With 2016 in full swing, several items are on the country’s legislative agenda, including one at the forefront for quite some time: ending veteran homelessness. This issue came into the national spotlight in 2010 when the Obama administration announced Opening Doors, the first- ever federal strategic plan to end veteran homelessness.

The number of homeless veterans declined by 36 percent between 2010 and January 2015, but there are still about 48,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) November 2015 Point-In-Time (PIT) count.

Veteran homelessness is part of the broader affordable housing shortage in the U.S. “When you look at need, we need millions of additional units of affordable housing in this country in order to not have a lot of people paying half of what they make on rent,” said Jennifer Ho, senior advisor for housing and services at HUD. Though the number of households paying more than half their income on rent or living in substandard housing has declined by 800,000 since peaking in 2011, 7.7 million households still face this problem, according to HUD’s February 2015 “Worst Case Housing Needs” report.

MHN spoke to government agencies, nonprofit organizations and multifamily developers, and many said collaboration is key to bring more affordable housing, including for veterans, to the market, especially in cities with limited space and higher renter activity.

“In communities big and small, we’re seeing that where leadership is getting everybody around the table, collaborating…that’s where we’re making progress,” Ho said.

As with other affordable housing issues, cities are typically the ones taking the lead, and many cities across the country have pledged to add affordable housing units in the upcoming years. However, this can be harder to accomplish in some cities than in others.

A showcase example is New York City. Despite its housing challenges—a lack of affordable housing stock, a small turnover rate, expensive land and tough competition for large sites—New York City was able to coordinate and become the largest city to effectively end chronic veteran homelessness, which Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in December 2015. This signifies that all chronically homeless veterans have either been housed or are on a path to permanent housing, except for those who refuse assistance.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 45 2 March 2016

“We’re looking to reach our goal of what we call ‘functional zero.’ Not that there won’t ever be any homeless veterans, but that we can reach a low number and are able to sustain that,” said Tori Lyon, executive director of The Jericho Project, a nonprofit providing 500 supportive housing units and two veteran-dedicated developments.

Other cities that’ve also reached this goal include Philadelphia, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Houston and even the state of Virginia.

This “functional zero” goal was one of the three main aims of the NYC Coalition on the Continuum of Care (CoC)’s Veterans Task Force, which has taken the lead on addressing veterans homelessness. “The Task Force was created to be kind of like a home for all the work around ending veteran homelessness that was going on in New York City,” Julie Irwin, co-chair of the task force, said. The task force consists of government agencies, such as the New York City offices of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, nonprofits and homelessness service providers.

George Nashak, executive vice president of HELP USA and a member of the task force, agreed that New York City has a coordinated process for addressing homelessness. HELP is a leading provider of housing for the homeless, including its current project as the developer and operator of 75 units for formerly homeless veterans at the former Walter Reed Medical Center campus in Washington, D.C.

Coordination also comes into play for creating veterans housing, for which project costs include capital and development as well as operation and services, Nashak explained. For HELP, capital usually calls for funding from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, which provides upfront capital and equity, and other federal funding, while the operation and services funding typically involves support from HUD and the VA’s Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.

Under HUD-VASH, veterans receive a rental assistance voucher combined with intensive case management services from the VA. This type of affordable housing is considered supportive housing because of the attached long-term support services, which many of the older and/or chronically homeless veterans need to sustain housing, Ho explained. The VA refers veterans to HUD-VASH and notifies local housing authorities to issue a voucher, which then help veterans find housing. Ineligible veterans can use other homeless assistance such as from the Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) program, which offers “short-term, light-touch case management,” Irwin said.

Lyon describes the process of securing funding as “kind of like one-stop shopping.” She said that New York City is unique in that supportive housing financing is fairly coordinated. In addition to finding funding, these public-private partnerships collaborate to create new housing. For example, HUD ran two competitions, in 2010 and 2014, to award more than 2,000 project- based HUD-VASH vouchers, which “help those developers creating more supportive housing units specifically for veterans or with a set-aside for veterans inside a larger building have that rent subsidy tied to the unit,” Ho said. This way, developers reserve some or all units for veterans and in return the government pays the difference between the veteran’s contribution and the rent in its contract with the developer.

Ho added that she anticipates “sometime in 2016 with the 2016 money [from Congress], we’ll probably be doing [a competition] again.” The Jericho Project also secured project-based HUD-

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 46 2 March 2016

VASH funding for its newest project in the Bronx, a 90-unit building on Walton Avenue with 56 apartments for homeless veterans and 34 for at-risk youths. This model of having veterans live in a development alongside the general community is most effective, Lyon said.

“We continue to look at this model because we find the number of homeless veterans has gone down dramatically. What we see is more just straight affordable housing needed for veterans.” She added that a whole building doesn’t need to be veteran-dedicated, but if there are some units for veterans, “Jericho provides services to them onsite and it’s a real peer-support model that has been very effective for us.”

Aside from conventional housing models, some companies are using innovative ways to create veterans housing. Veterans Housing Development (VHD), a Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based nonprofit, wants to use shipping containers. While this concept isn’t new, the application as a low-cost solution for veterans housing is, according to Brad Jordan, a service-disabled veteran who’s the executive director of VHD and president of Accord Architects & Engineers (aa+e), an architecture and engineering firm in Myrtle Beach.

“Using shipping containers is actually cheaper than buying mobile homes and sturdier, and also more green,” Jordan said. VHD is a relatively new organization but is gaining support from government agencies, nonprofits and others to reach its goal of creating a Veterans Village—a safe housing community for veterans with case management services provided.

Jordan and his team have developed several design concepts, including one- and two-bedroom floor plans as well as the option for a stacked, two-story residence. VHD also created a student housing concept with containers stacked three or four stories high, which Jordan said can be applied to creating multifamily housing. He added that the company is in talks to bring this idea to other parts of the country, including Portland and New York City.

Another strategic approach for developers of veterans housing is to pursue projects in areas in which they’re already present. “It’s difficult to run one building isolated in a location. So if there’s an area where we’ve got two or three projects, we’re interested in expanding our portfolio because it’s cost-effective and easier to operate,” Nashak said. No matter what the approach, it’s clear collaboration from all sides is needed to get veterans off the street and into safe housing, and the country seems to be heading in the right direction in 2016.

While the number of veterans housing units in the pipeline is virtually impossible to track, an additional $60 million in HUD-VASH has been added for this year, which will go into creating new units and tenant-based rental assistance. “We know enough now to know what it is that needs to get done. We’re at this perfect moment in time where the resources, best practices and political sentiment are all lined up in the same direction,” Ho said. “There’s a real commitment not to repeat the mistakes of the past, make great progress on this issue and have it bubble up again.”

4. Ending the Claims Backlog

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 47 2 March 2016

4.1 - POLITICO: How to fix the backlog of disability claims (1 March, Henry Aaron and Lanhee Chen, 7.4M online visitors/mo; Arlington, VA)

The American people deserve to have a federal government that is both responsive and effective. That simply isn’t the case for more than 1 million people who are awaiting the adjudication of their applications for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.

Washington can and must do better. This gridlock harms applicants either by depriving them of much-needed support or effectively barring them from work while their cases are resolved because having any significant earnings would immediately render them ineligible. This is unacceptable.

Within the next month, the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan congressional watchdog, will launch a study on the issue. More policymakers should follow GAO’s lead. A solution to this problem is long overdue. Here’s how the government can do it.

Congress does not need to look far for an example of how to reduce the SSA backlog. In 2013, the Veterans Administration cut its 600,000-case backlog by 84 percent and reduced waiting times by nearly two-thirds, all within two years. It’s an impressive result.

Why have federal officials dealt aggressively and effectively with that backlog, but not the one at SSA? One obvious answer is that the American people and their representatives recognize a debt to those who served in the armed forces. Allowing veterans to languish while a sluggish bureaucracy dithers is unconscionable. Public and congressional outrage helped light a fire under the bureaucracy. Administrators improved services the old-fashioned way — more staff time. VA employees had to work at least 20 hours overtime per month.

Things are a bit more complicated at SSA, unfortunately. Roughly three quarters of applicants for disability benefits have their cases decided within about nine months and, if denied, decide not to appeal. But those whose applications are denied are legally entitled to ask for a hearing before an administrative law judge — and that is where the real bottleneck begins.

There are too few ALJs to hear the cases. Even in the best of times, maintaining an adequate cadre of ALJs is difficult because normal attrition means that SSA has to hire at least 100 ALJs a year to stay even. When unemployment increases, however, so does the number of applications for disability benefits. After exhausting unemployment benefits, people who believe they are impaired often turn to the disability programs. So, when the Great Recession hit, SSA knew it had to hire many more ALJs. It tried to do so, but SSA cannot act without the help of the Office of Personnel Management, which must provide lists of qualified candidates before agencies can hire them. SSA employs 85 percent of all ALJs and for several years has paid OPM approximately $2 million annually to administer the requisite tests and interviews to establish a register of qualified candidates. Nonetheless, OPM has persistently refused to employ legally trained people to vet ALJ candidates or to update registers. And when SSA sought to ramp up ALJ hiring to cope with the recession challenge, OPM was slow to respond.

In 2009, for example, OPM promised to supply a new register containing names of ALJ candidates. Five years passed before it actually delivered the new list of names. For a time, the number of ALJs deciding cases actually fell. The situation got so bad that the president’s January 2015 budget created a work group headed by the Office of Management and Budget and the Administrative Conference of the United States to try to break the logjam. OPM promised a list for 2015, but insisted it could not change procedures. Not trusting OPM to mend

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 48 2 March 2016

its ways, Congress in October 2015 enacted legislation that explicitly required OPM to administer a new round of tests within the succeeding six months.

These stopgap measures are inadequate to the challenge. Both applicants and taxpayers deserve prompt adjudication of the merits of claims. The million-person backlog and the two- year average waits are bad enough. Many applicants wait far longer. Meanwhile, they are strongly discouraged from working, as anything more than minimal earnings will cause their applications automatically to be denied. Throughout this waiting period, applicants have no means of self-support. Any skills applicants retain atrophy.

The shortage of ALJs is not the only problem. The quality and consistency of adjudication by some ALJs has been called into question. For example, differences in approval rates are so large that differences among applicants cannot plausibly explain them. Some ALJs have processed so many cases that they could not possibly have applied proper standards. In recognition of both problems, SSA has increased oversight and beefed up training. The numbers have improved. But large and troubling variations in workloads and approval rates persist.

For now, political polarization blocks agreement on whether and how to modify eligibility rules and improve incentives to encourage work by those able to work. But there is bipartisan agreement that dragging out the application process benefits no one. While completely eliminating hearing delays is impossible, adequate administrative funding and more, better trained hearing officers would help reduce them. Even if OPM’s past record were better than it is, OPM is now a beleaguered agency, struggling to cope with the fallout from a security breach that jeopardizes the security of the nation and the privacy of millions of current and past federal employees and federal contractors. Mending this breach and establishing new procedures will — and should — be OPM’s top priority.

That’s why, for the sake of everyone concerned, responsibility for screening candidates for administrative law judge positions should be moved, at least temporarily, to another agency, such as the Administrative Conference of the United States. Shortening the period that applicants for disability benefits now spend waiting for a final answer is an achievable goal that can and should be addressed. Our nation’s disabled and its taxpayers deserve better.

Henry J. Aaron is the chair of the Social Security Advisory Board, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, and served in the Carter administration. Lanhee J. Chen is a member of the Social Security Advisory Board, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign, and served in the George W. Bush administration.

5. Veteran Opportunities for Education/GI Bill

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 49 2 March 2016

Eight attorneys general are calling on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to restore education benefits to veterans who were victims of predatory institutions, such as Corinthian Colleges.

“Our veterans earned these benefits by serving our country,” Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Monday. “These institutions specifically preyed upon them, using false promises and dishonest statistics about their programs and job placement. These deceptive schools took veterans’ education benefits and left them without the right training and qualifications to reach their goals.”

The attorneys general sent a letter to McDonald, asking him to use his authority to restore affected veterans’ benefits and eligibility, as well as to take steps to ensure veterans have full and accurate information about their educational options.

Veterans are eligible for benefits including the G.I. Bill, which gives student-veterans benefits up to $21,084 per year, and vocational assistance, which helps veterans with service-related disabilities receive job training and education.

In Washington state, Corinthian owned and operated six Everest College campuses, enrolling about 3,000 students, until February 2015, when their sale to Zenith Education Group was finalized. Zenith converted the for-profit schools to nonprofit status.

Investigations are underway to hold Corinthian and similar institutions accountable for their deceptive practices, Ferguson said.

In November 2015, his office obtained loan forgiveness for qualifying former students at The Art Institute of Seattle and Argosy University’s Seattle campus in an agreement that also contained requirements to reform the for-profit college company’s deceptive business practices.

Ferguson joined eight other state attorneys general in April 2015, calling on the U.S. Department of Education to relieve the debt burden of thousands of students victimized by Corinthian and provide a process to help student borrowers get debt relief. An August 2015 letter with 11 other attorneys general called for the cancellation of federal loans where schools have broken state law.

The other states to sign Monday’s letter are: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Oregon.

Free student loan debt assistance

For information on free assistance, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the National Consumer Law Center.

For problems with your student loan servicer or a debt collector, contact the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Loan Ombudsman at 877-557-2575 or online and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You can also file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.

For more information for boomer consumers, see my blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 50 2 March 2016

7. Other

7.1 - The Washington Times (AP): Ex-Phoenix VA hospital exec failed to disclose yearly gifts (1 March, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)

The former director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System - which had management problems that drew national outrage - has pleaded guilty to making false financial disclosures to the federal government about yearly gifts, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Sharon Helman was accused of failing to list more than $50,000 in gifts she received from a lobbyist in 2012-14, according to authorities.

Although a conviction for making a false statement to a government agency carries a maximum prison term of five years, prosecutors said Helman entered into a plea agreement and is expected to get probation at her April 25 sentencing.

Helman, 45, oversaw the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from February 2012 to December 2014.

She was fired after whistleblowers disclosed to Congress that veterans seeking appointments faced delays of up to a year and that some had died while on secret wait lists. Subsequent investigations found that the VA in Phoenix had manipulated wait-time data.

Helman denied that patient-scheduling data had been falsified.

She wasn’t charged with unlawfully accepting the gifts, but failing to provide the VA with required information to evaluate a potential conflict of interest.

Federal law required Helman to file a yearly financial disclosure report and disclose any gifts received.

Helman reported no gifts during calendar year 2013. But prosecutors say she actually received gifts totaling more than $19,300 including an automobile, concert tickets and two round-trip airline tickets.

Helmam also acknowledged failing to report four gifts worth more than $2,000 in 2012 and six gifts valued at nearly $28,000 in 2014.

Prosecutors said all of the gifts were from a single source, a person identified in court as a former high-level VA employee who from 2005-2009 served as Helman’s supervisor.

From 2012-14, that person was an executive consultant and later vice president of a consulting and lobbying firm that assisted companies in expanding their business with the VA, according to prosecutors.

“While this is an important step forward in holding Sharon Helman accountable for her corrupt activities while serving as head of the Phoenix VA, the department’s inability to convict Helman for her most serious crimes of wait-time manipulation and whistleblower retaliation has denied

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 51 2 March 2016

the veterans who died waiting for care on her watch the justice they deserve,” U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said in a statement Tuesday night.

7.2 - The Washington Times (AP): Former VA doctor convicted of child molestation (1 March, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)

A federal court jury in Spokane has convicted Dr. Craig Morgenstern of child sex abuse, after hearing graphic evidence of the former Veterans Affairs doctor’s secret life as a serial child molester.

The jury found Morgenstern guilty on all counts Tuesday.

The Spokesman-Review says he faces the possibility of life in prison when he is sentenced this spring by U.S. District Court Judge William F. Nielsen.

The 47-year-old Morgenstern was convicted of drugging six boys with prescription sedatives and then filming himself performing sex acts on them.

The FBI and local investigators found 1 million images and videos of child pornography on various computers and drives belonging to Morgenstern.

7.3 - KTAR (FM-92.3): Former Phoenix VA director pleads guilty to failure to disclose financial incentives (1 March, 841k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

The former director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center plead guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government on Tuesday, according to a recent press release.

Sharon Helman was director of Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix from February 2012 to December 2014. During that time, she was required by federal law to compete and file financial disclosure reports each year, including disclosing the gifts she had received.

According to the release, Helman admitted in March 2014 she falsely reported that she received no gifts in 2013. However, she had received more than $19,000 worth of gifts, including a car, a $5,000 check, concert tickets and two round-trip airplane tickets.

Additionally, Helman failed to report four gifts — totaling more than $2,000 — on her 2012 report and did not file a 2014 report, even though she received six gifts totaling more than $27,000.

All of the gifts, according to the release, were from a “former high-level” Veterans Affairs employee who served as Helman’s supervisor from 2005 to 2009.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 52 2 March 2016

U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo said in a release that they do not intend to pursue any additional charges.

In a statement, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has been a vocal opponent of Phoenix VA officials for their treatment of veterans, related the department’s inability to convict the director and the deaths of veterans while waiting for health care.

“This failure further underscores the urgent need to eliminate the endless bureaucratic protections that have thwarted any attempt to hold corrupt executives responsible for their role in the scandal of denied and delayed care at the Phoenix VA and hospitals around the nation,” the statement read.

Helman will be sentenced on April 25. Even though the charge against her holds a typical conviction of five years in prison, her plea agreement will allow for probation.

7.4 - KPHO/KTVK (CBS-5/TV-3): Former director of Phoenix VA hospital pleads guilty in financial disclosure case (1 March, 771k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

The former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.

Sharon Helman, 45, of Surprise, was director of the Phoenix VA hospital from February 2012 to December 2014.

Federal law required Helman to annually complete and file a financial disclosure report and to disclose, among many other things, gifts received during the applicable calendar year.

In her plea agreement, Helman admitted that, in March 2014, she submitted a financial disclosure in which she falsely reported that she received no gifts during 2013.

That report was false because during 2013 Helman had, in fact, received gifts totaling more than $19,300. The gifts included an automobile, a check for $5,000, concert tickets, and two round-trip airline tickets.

"I commend the FBI and the VA Office of Inspector General for their thorough investigation concerning the VA Medical Center in Phoenix, which revealed that the Center’s director had received, but failed to report, tens of thousands of dollars of gifts from a lobbyist," stated U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo. "Based on their thorough investigation, we do not intend to pursue any additional criminal charges at this time."

Helman also acknowledged that she filed a false report for 2012, failing to report four gifts of a total value of more than $2,000. Furthermore, although she did not file a financial disclosure report for 2014, Helman agreed that between January 2 and July 1 of that year, she received six gifts valued at more than $27,700.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 53 2 March 2016

All of the gifts were from a single source, a person identified in court as a former high-level VA employee who from 2005-2009 served as Helman’s supervisor. During the 2012-2014 time period, that person was an executive consultant, and later vice president, of a consulting and lobbying firm that assisted companies in expanding their business with the VA. Helman acknowledged that, had she properly reported the gifts and their source, the VA would have done a conflict-of-interest analysis to determine whether her acceptance of the gifts was permitted under applicable laws and regulations.

"The FBI recognizes and appreciates the tremendous sacrifice and service our veterans have made for our country. With this in mind, we conducted a thorough and extensive investigation of the allegations surrounding the Phoenix VA. Our investigation revealed that the former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center failed to report gifts as required under federal law," said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Cwynar. "Although this plea agreement calls for a term of probation, making a false financial disclosure to the federal government is a felony and will permanently attach to Ms. Helman’s legacy."

Michael E. Seitler, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northwest Field Office, stated: "VA executives have an obligation to clearly disclose any potential conflicts of interest. By providing false information to VA, Ms. Helman concealed her financial relationship with a senior employee of a consulting firm. That firm advised large corporations seeking to expand their VA business. This prosecution holds Ms. Helman accountable. We hope it will deter any other government executives who may be tempted to conceal this type of information."

Although a conviction for making a false statement to a government agency carries a maximum penalty of five years, Helman’s plea agreement provides for a term of probation.

Sentencing is set before United States District Judge Steven P. Logan on Monday, April 25, 2016.

7.5 - Military Times: Counsel for whistleblowers blasts IG reports on VA wait time scandal (1 March, Patricia Kime, 482k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)

The VA Office of Inspector General has started publishing its findings of investigations launched two years ago into charges that VA medical facilities adjusted patient appointment schedules to meet department standards.

Now the conclusions in at least two of 77 completed investigations have prompted the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and several senators to question the VA watchdog agency's independence, calling for a review of what they say is the IG's "failure to respond to the issues raised."

The OIG released 15 reports on scheduling problems at VA hospitals and clinics in Florida, Iowa and Minnesota on Monday, following complaints from members of Congress and the media that the office was sitting on the investigations, which were completed in 2014.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 54 2 March 2016

The reports found procedural aberrations at nine of the 15 facilities investigated, but the VA inspector general noted that in most cases, patient care was unaffected and managers did not direct employees to manipulate the wait times.

VA officials said Monday that the remainder of the 77 completed investigations will show that the IG found no scheduling irregularities in 25 investigations and found intentional misconduct in 18 cases.

According to VA, it disciplined 29 employees in those cases, “with actions ranging from admonishment to removal.”

“This includes three employees who retired or resigned with discipline pending,” VA officials noted in a statement.

In two yet-to-be published cases, however, Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, says the VA IG downplayed the scope of its findings of wrongdoing, at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Louisiana, and Hines VA Hospital, Illinois. Lerner, investigating whistleblower complaints, sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday objecting to the IG investigations.

Lerner called the investigations “incomplete,” adding that they did not adequately investigate whistleblower charges and instead focused on whether separate appointment spreadsheets used by the facilities, that were secondary to the VA's official appointment system, were "secret.”

The IG office concluded that the spreadsheets were not secret because employees at the VA hospitals knew about the lists.

“The OIG’s decision to investigate this straw man resulted in inadequate reviews that failed to address the whistleblower's legitimate concerns about access to care,” Lerner wrote.

A scandal erupted throughout the VA in the spring of 2014 after allegations surfaced that as many as 40 veterans died while waiting for treatment at the VA Phoenix Health Care System.

A 2014 VA inspector general’s report found that Phoenix medical center staff manipulated wait lists to meet department standards. The wait time issues and appointment scheduling subsequently were found to be a nationwide problem.

In the wake of the scandal, the VA IG investigated 111 facilities and found problems at 77. The investigation results are either published or pending.

Of the 15 reports released Monday, nine indicate that the facilities either manipulated the scheduling process to make sure that they met a 14-day window for scheduling an appointment, used paper wait lists or spreadsheets to track veterans outside the official appointment system, or failed to enter information correctly.

But in those cases, inspector general staff members concluded that "managers didn’t direct" appointment manipulation; that incorrect appointment scheduling was the result of "unintended errors"; paper wait lists were duplicates of the official list; or a separate database was known to management or employees and therefore "not secret."

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 55 2 March 2016

In no cases did the inspector general find that the procedures harmed patients or led to delays in care.

In her letter to Obama, Lerner said the IG office focused largely on the word "secret" instead of actually reviewing the access-to-care issues raised by VA employees.

Lerner's review of the reports also found evidence that the IG office targeted the whistleblowers who raised concerns about patient wait times.

Lerner said IG staff were disinterested in Brooks VA Medical Center social worker Christopher Shea Wilkes' allegations and that his IG interview was conducted more like a criminal probe into how he obtained the list and whether he shared it with anyone.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., released a statement Friday saying Lerner's letter demonstrates that the VA rewards "a culture that attacks whistleblowers instead of protecting vets.”

"It’s long past time for the VA to conduct a real investigation into whistleblower allegations ... determine how many veterans were harmed and if any died as a result of this scandal, and fire those responsible for covering it up,” Kirk said.

VA officials released a statement Monday saying the department has been working since 2014 to improve patient access to care, appointment wait times and employee accountability at VA.

"VA is now well underway on the 'MyVA' transformation, the most significant culture and process change at VA in decades, with the primary goals of putting veterans first and becoming the top customer service organization in government,” the statement read.

"We appreciate that, in many instances, the OIG found no intentional wrongdoing; nonetheless these reports demonstrated the need for standardized training on scheduling across [Veterans Health Administration]."

In the statement, VA officials did not refer to Lerner's letter. Instead, they pointed out that the inspector general's position has been vacant for two years.

"There is a nominee currently awaiting confirmation in the Senate to provide guidance and leadership for this organization," officials wrote.

But the nomination of Michael Missal, previously a senior counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has been awaiting confirmation since last fall and has been held up by various lawmakers.

On Thursday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., announced she is withholding the nomination over delays in publishing the reports.

"I will hold the nomination of the VA inspector general until I receive a commitment that the inspector general’s office will change business as usual and start releasing these reports publicly so we can put solutions in place that solve problems at the VA," Baldwin said.

The office said it would release the remainder of the 77 in the coming weeks.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 56 2 March 2016

7.6 - The News-Journal: Controversial VA director reinstated (1 March, Saranac Hale Spencer, 458k online visitors/mo; New Castle, DE)

The director of the regional Veterans' Affairs office in Philadelphia will be reinstated following an investigation of her use of personal funds – a move that Rep. John Carney, D-Del. has challenged.

The Philadelphia Regional Office manages the Wilmington benefits office and Diana Rubens, a Delaware native and long-time VA employee, was sent to take charge of it in June of 2014. She expensed over $270,000 to the government for her moving costs from Washington D.C., where she had been the deputy undersecretary for field operations, according to a report from the VA's Office of the Inspector General.

That expense prompted the Inspector General's six-month investigation, which was made public last September and led to Rubens' transfer to a lower-rung job in Houston. She appealed that transfer with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which hears the appeals of employment decisions for workers at several government departments.

The transfer would have cut her salary from $181,497 to $123,775, according to the board's decision, which was issued of Feb. 1 and found that Rubens could be reinstated to her Philadelphia post.

She was one of two administrators investigated for using her authority to create a job vacancy – in her case, it was the director's position in Philadelphia – and then volunteering to fill it. Around the same time, Kimberly Graves was investigated for her move to be the director of the VA's St. Paul Regional Office. Her relocation was also accompanied by an expensive moving charge.

Graves' appeal was handled in the same Merit Systems Protection Board decision that allowed for Rubens' reinstatement.

“Effective Monday, February 22, I have reinstated both Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves to their Regional Office director positions in compliance with the recent decisions by Merit System Protection Board," VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said in a statement.

The "errors in judgment" from Rubens and Graves happened before they assumed their positions as directors, he said, and "the disciplinary actions do not diminish the confidence VA leadership has in the abilities of Ms. Graves and Ms. Rubens to manage their offices, lead their employees, and provide benefits to Veterans."

Carney, however, did find reason to be concerned about putting Rubens back in charge of the regional office.

“To say that I am outraged over the news of Ms. Rubens' reinstatement would be an understatement,” he said in a prepared statement. “To quote the VA Inspector General's report, Ms. Rubens ‘inappropriately used her position of authority for personal and financial benefit.’ And yet, less than a year after the release of this report, she’s back in charge. This is unacceptable.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 57 2 March 2016

"It doesn’t represent the best interest of our veterans or those who care for them. I urge the VA to reconsider this action and the impact this decision will have on the services we’re providing our veterans.”

He and Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. sent a letter to Robert McDonald, secretary of the VA, expressing their concern. It was signed by six other congressmen.

7.7 - KJZZ (NPR-91.5, Audio): Former Phoenix VA Director Pleads Guilty In Federal Court (1 March, Stina Sieg, 413k online visitors/mo; Tempe, AZ)

The former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court after failing to report nearly $50,000 in gifts from a lobbyist.

Sharon Helman pleaded guilty to making a false disclosure to the federal government in the wake of an investigation by the VA and FBI.

Helman was the Phoenix VA’s director from 2012 to 2014, and the investigation found that during that time she received – and failed to report - concert and airline tickets, a car, and a check for $5,000. According to federal prosecutors, all of the gifts were from the same person, identified in court as a former high-level VA employee. That person was part of a consulting and lobbying firm that assisted companies in expanding their business with the VA.

Sentencing is set for next month. The plea agreement calls for Helman to receive probation.

7.8 - Phoenix New Times: Sharon Helman, Ex-Va Chief In Phoenix, Pleads Guilty To Felony Charge (1 March, Ray Stern, 255k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

The former director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center pleaded guilty today to failing to disclose large gifts she received from a VA lobbyist.

Sharon Helman, 45, of Surprise admitted to one felony count of filing a false financial disclosure to the federal government and will be sentenced to probation in April, according to her plea agreement. Helman, who became infamous for the sometimes-fatal delays in medical care that occurred at the center on her watch, was fired in November 2014 for various reasons including failing to report gifts.

Helman wasn't just an incompetent leader. In a scheme dripping with potential corruption, she accepted fancy freebies from a lobbyist and former VA employee whose consulting firm helped business expand their work with the VA.

She hid the substantial gifts she received from the lobbyist in her official financial-disclosure reports to the government, according to the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 58 2 March 2016

The office released a statement describing how Helman actually had received gifts worth more than $19,300 that year from the lobbyist.

"The gifts included an automobile, a check for $5,000, concert tickets, and two round-trip airline tickets," a statement from the office says.

She filed a false report in 2012 that failed to note $2,000 in gifts. And in 2014, she took gifts valued at more than $27,700.

The lobbyist, who wasn't named on Tuesday by the federal prosecutors' office, was Helman's former supervisor from 2005 to 2009.

"Helman acknowledged that, had she properly reported the gifts and their source, the VA would have done a conflict-of-interest analysis to determine whether her acceptance of the gifts was permitted under applicable laws and regulations," the office said.

Arizona U.S. Attorney John Leonardo says no further criminal charges are intended at this point.

Mark Cwynar, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Phoenix area, noted that while Helman was receiving only probation, the felony conviction "will permanently attach to Ms. Helman's legacy."

7.9 - My Suburban Life: Officials respond to 'incomplete' investigation into Hines VA whistleblower complaints (1 March, 253k online visitors/mo; Downers Grove, IL)

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has found that an investigation into whistleblower complaints at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital was incomplete, failing to address the concerns raised, although evidence was found to support the allegations.

The investigation conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General failed to offer recommendations to address the ongoing delays that were at the heart of the whistleblower complaints, according to the Special Counsel’s report. Concerns pointed to schedule manipulations and secret wait lists.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, issued a statement in response to the Special Counsel’s findings.

“Veterans at Hines have waited over two years to finally learn the truth – schedulers maintained secret wait lists in order to receive cash bonuses," Kirk said in a release. "The OSC letter to the President shows another example of the VA culture – attack whistleblowers instead of protecting vets. This report is a victory for whistleblowers who risk retaliation, firing and even criminal investigation when they stand up for vets."

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, also responded to the report.

“It is highly troubling the OSC found VA OIG investigations appeared to focus on discrediting whistleblowers at Edward Hines, Jr., VA Hospital,” Duckworth said in a letter to the Department

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 59 2 March 2016

of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. “The VA OIG’s response to allegations it failed to carry out its mission is simply unacceptable. Consequently, I am calling on the VA OIG to immediately share a copy of any and all complete investigation reports OSC is requesting and strongly recommend the VA OIG formally review and reform its transparency policies to ensure it publicly shares findings in a timely fashion.”

7.10 - Lake County News: VA announces appointment of principal deputy under secretary for health (1 March, 106k online visitors/mo; Lakeport, CA)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the appointment of Dr. Richard A. Stone to the position of principal deputy under secretary for health.

Dr. Stone will serve as the second-in-command to Dr. David Shulkin, VA’s under secretary for health. Dr. Stone began work Monday.

“We are excited to bring Dr. Stone on board as the principal deputy under secretary for health,” said Dr. Shulkin. “Dr. Stone’s keen ability to provide oversight of complex health care systems, programs and services has been truly remarkable and his experience in leadership roles within health care validate his skills as an innovative and dynamic leader who will benefit VA as a whole as we continue transformational initiatives.”

A practicing physician in a career that has spanned three decades, Dr. Stone has served in both the uniformed military service and civilian clinical practice.

In the military, he served as commander of military medical units at all levels of command – from detachment to medical command – including multiple recalls to active duty.

Prior to that, he was the director of the health care operations for the Defense Health Agency (DHA) transition team, overseeing the complex and historic transition to DHA from the Military Health System. In this role, he served as the chief medical officer and led a joint services team that provided business case analysis and business process re-engineering to 10 major shared services encompassing more than $30 billion in annual expenses.

He also previously served as deputy surgeon general and deputy commanding general of support to the Army Surgeon General.

In the private sector, Dr. Stone has owned and led an ambulatory medical and surgical practice, and served as senior medical officer for a community health care system in his home state of Michigan.

A graduate of Western Michigan University, Dr. Stone earned his medical degree from Wayne State University. He also earned a master’s degree from the Army War College.

Dr. Stone has a number of academic awards and honors to his credit including distinguished alumnus of Western Michigan University College of Arts and Sciences; and Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 60 2 March 2016

He also has been a member of the Department of Defense Recovering Warrior Task Force since 2011 and is a fellow in the American Academy of Dermatology.

7.11 - Cronkite News Service: Lawmakers welcome VA case guilty plea, say more needs to be done (1 March Lauren Clark, 102k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

Arizona lawmakers welcomed Tuesday’s announcement that the former director of the Phoenix VA hospital pleaded guilty to failing to disclose gifts from a lobbyist, but said it was too little and too late for veterans waiting for justice.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona said Tuesday that Sharon Helman pleaded guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government, by failing to report more than $49,000 in gifts while serving as director of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Phoenix.

The gifts to Helman came from a former “high-ranking VA official” who was serving as a vice president in a consulting and lobbying firm that helped businesses looking expand their work with the VA, according to prosecutors.

“VA executives have an obligation to clearly disclose any potential conflicts of interest. By providing false information to the VA, Ms. Helman concealed her financial relationship with a senior employee of a consulting firm,” said Michael Seitler, special agent in charge from the VA Office of Inspector General’s Northwest Field Office, in the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Although the charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, prosecutors said, the plea agreement with Helman calls for her to get probation when she is sentenced April 25.

Seitler said investigators hope Helman’s guilty plea will “deter any other government executives who may be tempted to conceal this type of information.”

But lawmakers, who have criticized VA management for its failure to discipline top administrators two years after the scandals at the agency were uncovered, said that more needs to be done.

Their frustration was summed up by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, who tweeted after Helman’s guilty plea, “Stop the presses… somebody has finally been held accountable at the Phoenix for their corrupt actions.”

Problems at the agency first came to light in that Phoenix VA, where veterans faced significant delays in getting care but agency officials manipulated records to make it look as if patients were being treated sooner – boosting employees’ chances for performance bonuses in some instances.

Audits that began in Phoenix soon found problems at VA facilities across the country, and led to the resignation in 2014 of then-Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 61 2 March 2016

“It’s not a stretch of the imagination to learn that the same person who presided over a horrific scandal that involved cooking the books and wait-time manipulations might also be guilty of unlawfully hiding expensive gifts and perks,” said Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Flagstaff, in a statement from her office last night.

“While some folks might think that a guilty plea and probation equal accountability, I’m sure the veterans who’ve suffered due to Phoenix VA mismanagement would disagree,” her statement said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said the agency’s “inability to convict Helman for her most serious crimes of wait-time manipulation and whistleblower retaliation has denied the veterans who died waiting for care on her watch the justice they deserve.”

“This failure further underscores the urgent need to eliminate the endless bureaucratic protections that have thwarted any attempt to hold corrupt executives responsible,” McCain said in a statement released by his office.

The statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Helman failed to report gifts worth more than $2,000 in 2012, worth another $19,300 in 2013 and totaling $27,700 in the first six months of 2014. The gifts included concert tickets, plane fares, a check and a car, prosecutors said.

VA officials could not be reached for comment on the plea Tuesday evening.

– Cronkite News reporters Jessica Swarner and Marisela Ramirez contributed to this report.

7.12 - Phoenix Business Journal: Former Phoenix VA hospital director pleads guilty (1 March, Angela Gonzales, 64k online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)

Sharon Helman, the former director of the Phoenix VA Medical Center, pleaded guilty to making a false financial disclosure to the federal government.

Her plea puts her on probation, even though a conviction for making a false statement to a government agency carries a maximum penalty of five years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. Sentencing is scheduled for April 25.

Paula Pedene, a former VA spokeswoman and whistleblower, said this is the beginning of accountability within the VA health system.

"I believe this demonstrates the beginning of the accountability that needs to take place for folks at Phoenix to help heal and move forward," Pedene said. "I made it through a very difficult time under her leadership. Measures like this actually help in the healing process."

Pedene served under Helman's leadership for two years. Pedene was relegated to the hospital basement in December 2012, about 10 months after Helman arrived in Phoenix, because of issues she brought to light regarding the VA.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 62 2 March 2016

"What I went through was hard, but it was nothing compared to what happened to our veterans who needed the health care," Pedene said.

By September 2014, Pedene obtained what the U.S. Office of Special Counsel describes as a "significant" whistleblower settlement after filing a retaliation complaint after reporting wrongdoing at the Phoenix VA hospital. The details of the settlement remain confidential.

Beginning in 2010, Pedene expressed concerns about financial mismanagement by former leadership at the medical center. Many allegations were substantiated by a November 2011 VA Office of Inspector General review. She said the Phoenix VA hospital mismanagement improperly investigated her on unsubstantiated charges, took away her job duties and moved her office to the basement library. Part of her settlement includes assignment to a national program specialist position in the Office of Communications in the Veterans Health Administration.

According to the Office of the US Attorney, Helman admitted she submitted a financial disclosure in which she received no gifts during 2013, despite the fact that she received gifts totaling more than $19,300. The gifts included an automobile, a check for $5,000, concert tickets and two round-trip airline tickets.

She also admitted filing a false report for 2012; failing to report four gifts totaling more than $2,000 in value. She also admitted receiving gifts valued at more than $27,700 in 2014.

All these gifts were from a former high-level VA employee who served as her supervisor between 2005 and 2009 and later as a lobbyist that helped companies expand their business with the VA.

7.13 - WTTV (CBS-4, Video): Action demanded after top VA official involved in misconduct is allowed to retire with benefits (1 March, Matt Smith, 8.9k online visitors/mo; Indianapolis, IN)

Action is being demanded after a top Department of Veterans Affairs official involved in misconduct was allowed to retire with benefits intact.

“That’s Washington bureaucratic kind of cover-up stuff and Hoosiers are tired of it,” Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) said in an interview with CBS4.

Jack Hetrick oversaw the care of more than 500,000 veterans in parts of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana as the network regional director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network 10.

The VA was investigating Hetrick for his management of the VA medical Center in Cincinnati, and last week the investigation revealed misconduct by Hetrick, along with the center’s chief of staff.

VA officials recommended Hetrick be removed from his position, but he was allowed to retire.

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 63 2 March 2016

“This is part of the problem that we’ve been talking about with no accountability with the VA,” Walorski said. “That you can actually be involved in all kinds of wrongdoing, enough wrongdoing to actually be dismissed from your job and have all your authority taken away. But then they let you retire with all your benefits. And don’t forget these are tax dollars.”

Those federal benefits include social security, annuity and a thrift savings plan, which is somewhat similar to a 401K in the private sector.

“Frankly I think it’s outrageous he was allowed to retire,” Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) said.

Walorski, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said last summer lawmakers proposed giving greater authority to the VA to fire bad executives. The measure, though, has stalled in the Senate.

“The Senate needs to take action on this bill precisely for moments like this,” she said. “When you have this over-the-top wrongdoing and folks dismissed from their jobs, and they go off into the sunset with their retirement. That does not happen in the real world.”

Congressman Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) wants to go even further. He’s drafting legislation that would classify all federal government employees as "at will," which would give greater authority to either fire or reward federal employees immediately.

“This goes back to something that’s a foundational problem in the federal government,” he said. “And that is we cannot fire people when they do bad things.”

Rokita, who called the proposal “radical” knows this type of sweeping legislation will be a tough sell.

“I’ll even have some Republican opposition on that,” he said. “Because the truth be told, Republicans that have districts where there’s a lot of federal employees on the East Coast will be very sensitive to this. But we’ll introduce it in the right way.”

Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) will receive a briefing on the Cincinnati investigation Wednesday, along with other VA-related issues.

Messer said he will press officials to ensure the transition to a new network regional director, overseeing hundreds-of-thousands of veterans, will not impact care.

“This is a problem that’s gone on far too long,” he said. “It’s way past time to fix it. We need to get the VA under control and we need to make sure our veterans are getting quality care.”

Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 64 2 March 2016