FederalDaily.com > VA Centers to Offer Longer Hours

FederalDaily - June 19, 2007

VA Centers to Offer Longer Hours

In an effort to broaden the availability of health care for military veterans, Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Jim Nicholson has ordered longer hours for the VA’s 153 medical centers. The new initiative is focused on the VA’s mental health service providers, Nicholson said June 15, noting that he wants to ensure the VA’s more than 9,000 mental health professionals are available when veterans need them. “Illness doesn’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule,” Nicholson said. VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the country and about 5.5 million veterans are expected to seek health care from VA’s system this year. The extend-hours effort is the most recent in a series of VA initiatives designed to improve mental health care for returning combat veterans, Nicholson said. These include the hiring of suicide prevention coordinators for each medical center, the addition of 100 new adjustment counselors for VA’s 207 Vet Centers and the hiring of 100 new medical center employees to serve as advocates for the severely wounded. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1348

Union Says Supreme Court Ruling Has Limited Reach

The Supreme Court ruling last week that limited how a Washington state teachers union could spend nonmembers’ money will have little impact on how other public-employee unions operate, said AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt. In a June 14 statement, Hiatt noted that the unanimous court ruling turned on a complicated set of facts unique to the Washington state case. The high court upheld a Washington state law that required the teachers union to get the consent of nonmembers to spend their representation fees on political activities, Hiatt said. However, it left untouched the broader issue of the so-called agency or representation fees—which unions collect from nonmembers because they benefit from collective bargaining even though they haven’t joined, Hiatt said. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Springfield, Va.-based organization that represented the nonunion teachers in the Washington case, had asked the court to review whether union officials should be able to collect such fees from nonunion members. “The Supreme Court’s decision has very limited practical effect and will not affect any existing union practices.” Hiatt said. To see more, go to: www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr06142007.cfm

Army Launches Transition Units for Wounded Vets

The Army launched a new nationwide network of medical and outpatient care services that is designed to help wounded soldiers return to active duty or transition to civilian life. The Army on June 15 announced the creation of the new Warrior Transition Units that will be located at the Army’s major installations. The new units are meant to supplement and streamline the Army’s current transition efforts that it offers along with DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Army’s Medical Action Plan includes significant current improvements, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. This includes the establishment of a three-member team—a primary-care manager, nurse case manager and a squad leader—for each wounded soldier, as well as increased outreach to the families and caregivers of wounded servicemembers. “We have made improvements, but realize there is still work to be done,” Casey said. “By no means is everything ‘fixed’—but we are aggressively acting on what we can fix now.” To see more, go to: www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2007/06/14/3614-armys-newest-units-to-address-soldier-medical-care-and-transition-nationwide