Veterans
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- Written by: Editor
This marks the start of important work to restore and maintain the cemetery. It follows specific authority under Thompson’s legislation passed last year as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, Conference Report.
“The Mare Island Cemetery is a vital piece of our nation’s history and is the final resting place for hundreds of brave and honorable service members. Though it’s sadly fallen into disrepair in recent years, I’m glad the VA is taking this critical first step toward the restoration and maintenance of this hallowed ground. This announcement follows guidance under legislation I authored that was signed into law at the start of the year and is great news as we work to return the space to its rightful honor for both the veterans buried there and those who want to visit for years to come,” Thompson said.
First introduced in 2018, Thompson’s legislation directed the secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek out an agreement with the city of Vallejo, under which the city would transfer control of the Mare Island Naval Cemetery to the VA.
The cemetery will specifically be placed under the purview of the National Cemetery Administration.
The VA will pay no fee to acquire the land, but will assume the obligation of maintaining the cemetery in the future.
That bill became law on Jan. 1, 2021 and you can click here to read the text of the legislation.
Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Participants came from 29 states and are VA Center for Verification and Evaluation verified, have three to five years in business and have past performance as a prime or subcontractor.
“It’s important we provide an environment where women entrepreneurs can receive strategic and deliberate education, empowerment, engagement and access to enhance their businesses,” said VA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Executive Director Sharon Ridley. "Through entrepreneurship, women Veterans have an opportunity to leverage their military and leadership skills to increase and create economic opportunities.”
Classes are focused on relationship building, product/market analysis, business development and growth preparation.
Participants meet in small groups and receive coaching from industry leaders such as AstraZeneca and Halfaker & Associates and OptumServe.
The program culminates with a pitch competition in October. The participant with the winning pitch will receive a PenFed Foundation grant to be used to grow their business.
“We have a shared goal: to empower women veterans and create access to capital and systems to support them,” said PenFed Foundation President and retired U.S. Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, Jr. “We believe in creating a business ecosystem that establishes service in the U.S. military as the most reliable pathway to successful entrepreneurship."
Learn more about the Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program.
Learn more about VA’s mission to empower and educate Women Veteran entrepreneurs for success and economic opportunities at the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.
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- Written by: San Francisco VA Health Care System
This is one of 50 public virtual listening sessions across the country from March through June 2021 to hear from veterans on how to design a health care system of the future and grow services for veterans in a way that reinforces VA’s role as a leader in the U.S. health care system.
“We want to hear from veterans and other stakeholders in the communities VA serves and understand their vision for VA health care,” said SFVAHCS Director Bonnie Graham. “VA’s goal is to collaborate closely with veterans and other stakeholders to build the best VA health care system that meets the needs of veterans today and for generations to come.”
These listening sessions represent an exciting opportunity for Veterans to help VA reimagine how VA delivers care in an equitable, high quality, veteran-centered manner and develop a plan for investing in VA’s aging infrastructure.
The feedback will be used to develop the recommendations VA submits to the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission in January 2022.
The AIR Commission will also conduct public hearings as part of their review of VA’s recommendations before submitting its recommendations to the President and Congress for review and approval in 2023.
To register for SFVAHCS’ listening session, please visit https://www.va.gov/HEALTHPOLICYPLANNING/listening.asp.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
VA strives to provide quality care and services to all Veterans regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity but a 2019 Government Accountability Office report reveals that veterans from underserved communities continue to face barriers to accessing VA health services.
“Systemic barriers that underserved communities face many times negatively impact veterans,” said McDonough. “In order to overcome many of these barriers, VA must tap into its vast diversity and use it as a major source of strength. The implementation of this task force will help the department become the inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible team our veterans, their families, survivors and caregivers deserve.”
The task force is charged with providing concrete and actionable recommendations addressing inclusion, diversity, equity and access to the secretary no later than July 31, and will focus on five objectives:
– Ensure execution of requirements outlined in Executive Order 13985 and any other subsequent and relevant executive orders.
– Examine and develop VA’s strategic mission, goals and objectives on inclusion, diversity, equity and access.
– Conduct a whole-of-VA review of policies, programming, training and strategic communications for workforce and veterans’ initiatives.
– Identify opportunities to leverage data to inform and operationalize inclusion, diversity, equity and access.
– Develop institutional access points for underserved communities to establish strategic partnerships with VA.
Led by the chair, Deputy Chief of Staff and White House Liaison Chris Diaz — additional members of the task force include:
– Assistant Under Secretary for Health and Clinical Services Kameron Matthews M.D.
– Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations Cheryl Rawls.
– Deputy Chief Veterans Experience Officer Barbara Morton.
– Executive Director for Investigations/Acting Deputy Executive Director Hansel Cordeiro.
– Executive Director of the National Center for Organizational Development Maureen Marks, Ph.D.
– Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Melissa Bryant.
– Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Veteran Service Organizations Liaison Ray Kelley.
– Acting Executive Director for the Center for Minority Veterans Dennis May.
– Acting Executive Director for the Center for Women Veterans Elizabeth Estabrooks.
– Chief of Staff at the Office of Enterprise Integration Shana Love-Holmon.
– Clinical Implementation Lead for PRIDE Tiffany Lange, Psy.D.
– Executive Director for the Center for Innovation Ryan Vega, M.D.
– Executive Director for Human Capital Management Lisa Thomas, Ph.D.
– Special Counsel Tahmika Ruth Jackson, JD, LL.M.
– Director of the Office of Tribal Government Relations Stephanie Birdwell.
– Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy White House Liaison James Anderson (facilitator).
The task force recommendations will aim to eliminate barriers so that all veterans have equal treatment and experiences when interacting with VA. More to follow at the conclusion of the 120-day period.
VA-led coalition embarks on combined effort to prevent hospital-acquired pneumonia in U.S. hospitals
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The effort, known as National Organization for NV-HAP Prevention, or NOHAP, encourages patients to practice consistent oral hygiene as a simple measure to aid in the prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Each year, it is estimated that more than 35 million patients in the U.S. are at risk for non-ventilator associated hospital-acquired pneumonia at a cost of roughly $3 billion.
“VA has successfully shown patients who brush their teeth a few times a day can dramatically reduce the risk of pneumonia,” said VA Chief Officer of Health Care Innovation and Learning Ryan Vega, M.D. “The practice may also reduce the severity of a COVID-19 infection by lowering the probability of a secondary bacterial pneumonia — a frequent occurrence seen with the virus.”
Other members of the NOHAP group include representatives from The Joint Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Dental Association, Patient Safety Movement Foundation and various organizations from the private sector and academia.
“This is a simple solution to a costly problem,” said Director of CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Denise Cardo, M.D. “The most recent CDC data shows hospitals are succeeding in their efforts to eliminate certain types of health care-associated infections. However, the prevalence of pneumonia in hospitalized patients has not changed and continues to be the most common health care-associated infection.”
With the support of VA’s Diffusion of Excellence, Office of Nursing Services and Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, the practice has spread to 107 VA facilities across the nation, helping make Veterans under VA care safer.
Learn more about NOHAP.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The current moratorium extensions for evictions and foreclosures were set to end March 31.
“We will do everything in our power to help veterans, their families, survivors and our caregivers get through this pandemic,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “The department’s moratorium and forbearance extensions support President Biden’s Jan. 22 executive order to deliver economic relief to Americans amid the COVID-19 crisis by addressing economic hardships the veteran community faces, through no fault of its own, during the ongoing pandemic.”
VA borrowers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 can review VA guidance for borrowers or call 877-827-3702 for additional information.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The new online resource outlines nine principles for communicating clear expectations on how veteran data is to be managed and viewed by veterans, staff, VA partners and other stakeholders.
These principles reinforce VA’s standards of data privacy and protection maintained during VA’s distribution of nearly 2 million COVID-19 vaccinations to date, and other critical health care services during the coronavirus pandemic.
“VA’s principle-based ethics framework takes a proactive approach to data management and privacy by setting standards for our partners to follow,” says Acting VA Under Secretary for Health Richard Stone, M.D. “VA is applying this framework to all data interoperability initiatives, including those tied to our COVID-19 response and modernization efforts.”
Having clearly defined integrities for everyone who accesses or uses veteran data puts VA at the forefront of organizational responsibility for ethical data practices.
Veterans trust VA to promote and respect their privacy, confidentiality and autonomy within the services the department provides and supports.
The department will continue to uphold that trust by remaining consistent with VA’s I-CARE values of integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect and excellence to promote and ensure responsible practices whenever Veteran data is accessed or used.
The ethics framework was developed by the Data Ethics Work Group established by the VA Interoperability Leadership team and the Veterans Health Administration’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care, along with input from veterans.
The department is actively working to ensure all VA directives, policies and standards reflect these principles which the agency anticipates completing by the end of 2022.
Learn more about VA’s COVID-19 vaccination response and how VHA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care continues to work proactively to build trust in managing access and use of veteran data.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
If you are age 65 years or older and would like to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, please call the Clearlake VA Clinic at 707-995-7200 to schedule your appointment.
No drop-in visits will be accepted.
Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine at https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Each facility will determine its own start date based on site-specific resources, needs and vaccine availability.
“Caregivers play a critical role in caring for some of our most vulnerable Veterans,” said VA Acting Under Secretary for Health Richard A. Stone, M.D. “One of the most important things we can do for caregivers is to help them take care of themselves. The current pandemic has amplified the importance of our caregivers whom we recognize as valuable members of Veterans’ health care teams.”
The testing and vaccines will be administered in line with CDC allocation guidelines. Vaccinations will be offered in accordance with VA’s phased risk stratification framework and will build upon elements outlined in the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for the Veterans Health Administration.
Veterans and their caregivers can get the latest information and sign up to receive updates on VA's COVID-19 vaccine webpage.
For more information visit VA’s Caregiver Support Program, contact your local facility’s VA Caregiver Support Coordinator or call the Caregiver Support Line at 855-260-3274 from Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
