Veterans News Bureau

WASHINGTON – The Fourth of July celebration in Denver takes on special importance this year when more than 500 wheelchair athletes who are all military Veterans begin competition at the 30th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. The event, presented each year by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Paralyzed Veterans of America, runs July 4 through July 9.

“Honoring those who have given so much to this Nation is appropriate on the day we celebrate America’s independence,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The National Veterans Wheelchair Games exemplify America’s commitment to its disabled Veterans and the continuing heroism of these men and women.”

The games provide an annual multi-event sports rehabilitation program that is open to Veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, amputations or certain neurological problems and who receive care at any VA medical facility. Athletes attending can be first-time wheelchair athletes or experienced Paralympians. Six of this year’s participants have previously competed at the world-class Paralympic level.

“Independence Day is the perfect day to kick off this year’s National Veterans Wheelchair Games,” said Gene A. Crayton, national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “For 30 years, the Wheelchair Games have helped to empower thousands of paralyzed Veterans to get back into life after serious injury, and to eventually lead full and independent lives.”

At the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, Veterans will compete in 17 different sports, including air guns, archery, basketball, bowling, field events, handcycling, nine-ball, a motorized wheelchair relay, power soccer, quad rugby, softball, swimming, table tennis, track, trapshooting, weightlifting and wheelchair slalom. This year, an exhibition event will also be held in kayaking.

The 30th National Veterans Wheelchair Games begin on Sunday, July 4, with a quad rugby demonstration in Civic Center Park in downtown Denver. Kids Day at the games takes place Thursday, July 8, at City Park, where local children with disabilities will meet the athletes and learn about wheelchair sports. Other events will be held at Brunswick Zone, Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, Family Shooting Center, Fishback Park, the Colorado Convention Center and other area venues. Admission is free to the public and local attendance is encouraged.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver and the Mountain States Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America are hosting the 2010 Games. For many injured Veterans, the Wheelchair Games provide their first exposure to wheelchair athletics.

For more information about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games or to volunteer during the week, visit the Games Web site at www.wheelchairgames.va.gov.

VA is a recognized leader in rehabilitative and recreational therapies, and operates more than 1,400 sites of care, including 153 medical centers (www.va.gov). Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded 63 years ago. For more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all Veterans and people with disabilities and their families have everything they need to thrive (www.pva.org).

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today the opening of the Industry Innovation Competition by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the most recent effort under the VA Innovation Initiative. With this competition, VA seeks the best ideas from the private sector to address the department’s most important challenges.

“At VA, we are continually looking for new ways to improve the care and services we deliver,” said Secretary Shinseki. “Engaging the private sector to tap its expertise and find ways to leverage private-sector innovations, we can improve the quality, access and transparency in service to our Nation’s Veterans.”

The VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2) is a department-wide program that brings the most promising innovations to VA’s most important challenges by involving employees and the private sector in the creation of visionary solutions in service to Veterans.

“Innovation is more than simply a collection of ideas,” said Jared Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University. “It requires close collaboration between academia, industry and government to produce solutions that make a meaningful impact on society. VAi2’s programs bring about exactly that kind of fruitful collaboration.”

“Creativity in the private sector generates a wealth of technology capability that can help drive VA forward,” said Dr. Peter Levin, senior advisor to the secretary and VA’s chief technology officer. “By targeting innovations that are nearing commercialization, the Industry Innovation Competition provides a bridge between creative ideas in the private sector and real-world deployments that improve the services we deliver.”

Public and private companies, entrepreneurs, universities and non-profits are encouraged to participate in the competition, which targets advancements in:

· Innovative Housing Technology to Address Veteran Homelessness: Eliminating Veteran homelessness is a top VA priority. New design and construction techniques, materials and building technology can enable VA to use existing buildings and unused space to rapidly create highly functional, energy efficient and affordable housing.

· Telehealth: VA is a leader in telehealth implementation and currently serves many thousands of Veterans with solutions such as home health monitoring. Potential applications for telehealth solutions are broad and varied and department officials are interested in pursuing integrated solutions that improve their ability to provide the right treatment at the right place and at the right time.

· New Models of Dialysis and Renal Disease Prevention: VA currently provides dialysis for more than 10,000 Veterans annually, at both VA and community-based medical facilities. Alternative treatment strategies and dialysis technology can extend and improve our ability to provide quality care in a patient-preferred setting.

· Improvement of Polytrauma Care: VA provides comprehensive, inter-disciplinary rehabilitation care to Veterans and returning service members with multiple injuries, or polytrauma. Solutions in areas such as the application of dynamic treatment algorithms, home monitoring of diverse and complex symptoms and assistive technologies can help the broad advancement of polytrauma care.

· Reduction of Adverse Drug Events: The development and deployment of strategies to prevent patient harm from adverse drug events is an on-going priority at VA. Tools that can integrate with VA records and systems and provide an increased ability to continuously monitor for at-risk situations can enhance dramatically the quality and safety of care provided by VA.

· Integrated Business Accelerator: A wide array of services and benefits are available to assist Veterans, and Service Disabled Veterans in particular, in starting and sustaining new businesses. However, an integrated, long-term approach that assists Veterans in accessing existing resources and provides services that aid in the launch and maintenance of startup businesses can help insure the long-term success of Veteran-owned businesses.

VAi2 identifies, funds, tests and deploys new efforts that significantly improve the access, quality, performance and cost of VA services. For more about VAi2 please visit www.va.gov/vai2. Please go to www.FedBizOpps.gov to learn more about federal opportunities for businesses.

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WASHINGTON — Veterans and others with Parkinson’s disease who undergo deep brain stimulation (DBS) may benefit from research co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and published recently in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

“VA is proud to partner with the National Institutes of Health on this research, the largest trial of its kind to date,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “This and other ground-breaking research on Parkinson’s disease ensure we provide the best care possible for Veterans with this common, debilitating disease.”

VA cares for about 40,000 Veterans with Parkinson’s disease. DBS is often recommended for people who no longer respond well to medication alone.

The new report shows DBS is equally effective at either of two sites in the brain. Earlier results from the landmark study appeared last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicating that DBS overall is somewhat riskier than carefully managed drug therapy but may hold significant benefits for appropriate patients.

In DBS, surgeons implant electrodes in the brain and run thin wires under the skin to a pacemaker-like device. Electrical pulses from the battery-operated device jam the brain signals that cause motor symptoms such as stiffness and tremors. Thousands of Americans have seen successful results from DBS, but questions have remained about which of two stimulation site in the brain yields better outcomes.

The new analysis finds both sites roughly equal for patient outcomes relating to movement symptoms. There were subtle differences between the sites in terms of cognitive skills and mood, but the clinical significance of the differences is not clear.

Researchers will follow the study participants several more years to examine the relative benefits and risks of each DBS approach.

The study was sponsored by VA’s Cooperative Studies Program and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

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A new 30-page Veterans Affairs Department training letter outlines a new policy for VA regional offices to use in determining benefits for veterans who have been exposed to environmental hazards, including burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This marks the first time in its history that VA has addressed potential battlefield exposures while the troops remained in the combat zone, as well as the first time VA sent out guidance about a potential war-related health issue without it a congressional mandate or a recommendation from a large health organization.

The letter, with the subject line, “Environmental Hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Military Installations,” went out in late April to all VA regional offices, signed by Brad Mayes, director of VA’s compensation and pension service.

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WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the nation’s largest health care system, today announced measures to ensure that all inpatient surgeries are performed under the safest possible conditions at facilities with the resources to support them.

VA is the first hospital system to conduct a comprehensive review to determine what level of inpatient surgeries may be performed in each of its 112 surgery programs.

“VA began this major undertaking in 2007 to close and prevent gaps in surgical care,” said Dr. Robert Petzel, VA’s Under Secretary of Health. “Our mission is to provide the best health care to Veterans, and we are determined to meet uncompromising standards for inpatient surgery.”

After an expert work group’s review of surgical standards, VA conducted on-site studies of each of its hospitals between June 2009 and March 2010. As a result, VA has assigned each of its medical centers an inpatient “surgical complexity” level — complex, intermediate or standard.

Based on appropriate criteria developed by 16 surgical advisory boards including 80 experts, VA has authorized 66 hospitals to conduct “complex” inpatient surgeries; 33 hospitals to conduct “intermediate” inpatient surgeries; and 13 to conduct “standard” inpatient surgeries.

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WASHINGTON (May 5, 2010) – Veterans will find it easier and faster to apply for their health care benefits now that the Department of Veterans Affairs has updated its online Form 10-10EZ, “Application for Health Benefits.”

“VA is committed to tapping into the best that technology has to offer to ensure Veterans receive the benefits they have earned,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We continue to look for new ways to improve access to care and benefits.”

This revised online application provides enhanced navigation features that make it easier and faster for Veterans to apply for their health care benefits. This new version also allows Veterans to save a copy of the completed form for their personal records.

The most significant enhancement allows Veterans to save their application to their local desktop and return to the application at any time without having to start over. Previously, Veterans had to complete the form in a single session.

This updated online form, along with the revised VA Form 10-10EZ, reduces the collection of information from Veterans by eliminating some questions.

In addition, there are minor changes to simplify the wording of questions and provide clarity in the instructions. Further enhancements to the online application are expected to be delivered in increments throughout 2010.

Veterans may complete or download the 10-10EZ form at the VA health eligibility website at https://www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/1010ez . Veterans may also contact VA at 1 (877) 222-8387 (VETS) or visit the VA health eligibility website at www.va.gov/healtheligibility.

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WASHINGTON – The children of military personnel who died in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001 can apply for an educational scholarship similar to the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. Benefits are retroactive to Aug. 1, 2009.

The scholarship, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, are named after Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry, 28, a Texas native who died in Iraq in 2006 while disarming an explosive. He was survived by three young children.

“The Fry scholarship represents this nation’s solemn commitment to care for children whose mothers and fathers paid the ultimate price for our country,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

VA begins accepting applications for the Fry scholarship on May 1, 2010. For more information or assistance applying, call toll-free 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551), or visit the VA GI Bill Website at www.gibill.va.gov.

VA estimates nearly 1,500 children will receive benefits under the Fry scholarship program in 2010. Recipients generally have 15 years to use their benefits, beginning on their 18th birthdays.

Eligible children attending institutions of higher learning may receive payments to cover their tuition and fees up to the highest amounts charged to public, in-state students at undergraduate institutions in each state. A monthly housing allowance and stipend for books and supplies are also paid under this program.

VA will begin paying benefits under the Fry scholarships on Aug. 1, 2010. Eligible participants may receive benefits retroactively to August 1, 2009, the same day the Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect.

Eligible children may be married. Recipients are entitled to 36 months of benefits at the 100 percent level.

When dependents also serve in the military, the reserves or are Veterans in their own right, eligible for education benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill for Active Duty, the Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserves or the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP), then they would relinquish their eligibility under those programs to receive benefits under a Fry scholarship.

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