Transitioning from active duty military service to civilian life is difficult at the best of times. The pandemic added a host of new challenges, highlighted existing problems with the transitioning process and widened the cracks through which those veterans who are most in need of support are in danger of falling.
In May, Reta Mays, a former nurse’s assistant at VA’s Louis A. Johnson Medical Center in Clarksburg was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences—one each for the patients that she had pleaded guilty to murdering.
Many of the design issues delaying the continued rollout of VA’s new electronic health record (EHR) system are in the area of standardized workflow rather than simple technical glitches, VA officials explained.
Mortality rates are lower for veterans who receive all of their post-kidney transplant care within the VHA than those who receive care outside the VA through Medicare coverage, according to a recent study.
The rise in backlogged claims at the Veterans Benefits Administration is creating concern.
Veterans who have service-connected infertility issues should have access to the full range of fertility services science now available, especially in vitro fertilization, without the constraints imposed by antiquated and sometimes nonsensical regulations, legislators and veterans’ advocates argued last month.
The benefit of early post-discharge hospital followup for heart failure patients was demonstrated in a new approach at the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System.
In its first meeting of the 117th Congress, the House VA Committee advanced a proposal that would allocate $17 billion for VA as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
The first months of 2021 saw the progression of a number of high-profile criminal cases involving VA employees charged with harming the patients they were tasked to serve.
The aftermath of the pandemic at VA will require as much emergency funding, if not more, than was required during the actual pandemic, according to VA leadership.
MISSION Act critics have raised alarms about the legislation consolidating and expanding VA’s community care program– that healthcare provided by non-VA providers would fail to meet VA’s standards.
DoD officials advocated for the firing of Richard Thomas, MD, DDS, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
After what was a relatively easy, bipartisan confirmation process, Denis McDonough, President Joe Biden’s pick for VA secretary, is expected to be sworn in by early February.
Lloyd J. Austin III made history when the retired four-star general was confirmed as the first African American Secretary of Defense last month.
One of the last pieces of legislation to make it through the 116th Congress was the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, MD Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.
Is it time to overhaul VA’s eligibility rules? According to some legislators, the process is long overdue for an update, although veterans’ service organizations are split on the issue.
The National Guard has stepped up again to help states in their battle against the novel coronavirus.
On Jan. 11, 2020, China reported the first known death from a novel coronavirus. Ten days later, the U.S. announced its first confirmed case. By mid-January, VA’s infectious disease and public health experts initiated regular updates about the new virus to department leadership.
VA was initially left out of strategic decisions made by the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force, the group ostensibly coordinating the nation’s response to the pandemic, the agency revealed in a recent report.
The Tip of the Spear Award is AMSUS Sustaining Members most prestigious award presented to the Federal Health Professional/Leader that exhibited the highest standard of ethical public/private partnership in advancing federal health in 2020 and the AMSUS Sustaining Member Company who best exhibited the highest standard of ethical public/private partnership in support of federal health in 2020.
WASHINGTON—A data breach exposed the personal information of more than 46,000 veterans this summer, the VA recently revealed. Hackers gained access to VA’s Financial Services Center (FSC), diverting payments meant for community care providers. According to VA...
What responsibility does VA have for state veterans homes and the tsunami of COVID-19 infections and deaths that have swept through facilities nationwide?
A VA nursing assistant has pleaded guilty to seven counts of second-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder in the deaths of eight veterans at the Louis A. Johnson VAMC.
While the number of COVID-19 cases being actively treated at VA facilities declined, the total number of infections and deaths rose steadily in July and August.
The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection has followed through with only a small fraction of the cases it has investigated.
More than three-quarters of VA employees report that racism is a moderate to severe problem at VA facilities, according to a survey released by the American Federation of Government Employees.
WASHINGTON — Even as VA facilities open up nationwide, administrators and others are keeping a wary eye on the possibility of a significant second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall. U.S. healthcare systems are preparing now for a sharp increase in cases in the...
Schizophrenia can be frightening and life-changing. Common symptoms such as disorganized thinking and speech, lack of expressive emotion, social withdrawal, neglect of self-care, hallucinations and delusions alienate individuals with schizophrenia from others and create barriers to day-to-day functioning in society.
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) biomarker is associated with systemic inflammation and poor prognosis in solid tumors.
Military personnel often have more exposure to sunlight, compared to their civilian counterparts, and that can increase their risk of melanoma.
