The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new hotline — 1-855-VA-WOMEN — to receive and respond to questions from Veterans, their families and caregivers about the many VA services and resources available to women Veterans.

The hotline is staffed by knowledgeable VA employees who can provide information about benefits including health care services for women. Callers can be linked to information on claims, education or health care appointments as well as information about VA cemeteries and memorial benefits. Staff can answer urgent questions and provide referrals to homeless and mental health services as well as provide Vet Center information.

Women Using VA Health Care Doubled Since 2000

Women make up nearly 15 percent of today’s active duty military and 18 percent of National Guard and Reserve forces. The population of women Veterans using VA benefits including health care is growing rapidly. Since 2000, the number of women using VA health care more than doubled, from 160,000 in 2000 to more than 354,000 in 2012. Based on the upward trend of women serving in all branches of service, the number of women Veterans — female VA users — will keep climbing.

 We need to correct…misperceptions so we can provide more women Veterans with…benefits… 

VA is committed to making improvements for the growing population of women Veterans, including the way it communicates with them. In 2010, VA established an outbound call center to contact women Veterans and encourage them to enroll in VA health care.

“In VA health care alone, women constitute only 6 percent of VA patients, but those Veterans have a high perception of the quality care they are receiving,” said Irene Trowell-Harris, director of VA’s Center for Women Veterans.

“Many women who served don’t self-identify as Veterans and therefore don’t think they qualify for VA benefits. We need to correct existing misinformation and misperceptions so we can provide more women Veterans with the benefits they’ve earned.”

Women Veterans Eligible for Many Benefits

Women Veterans are entitled to apply for the same benefits as their male counterparts, which include health care and pharmacy benefits as well as education benefits, disability compensation, home loans, employment assistance and more.

“Some women Veterans may not know about high-quality VA care and services available to them,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The hotline will allow us to field their questions and provide critical information about the latest enhancements in VA services.”

The hotline (1-855-VA-WOMEN) joins numerous other VA hotlines that provide critical information and assistance to Veterans, such as those for Veterans in crisis and in danger of becoming homeless. Veterans can also receive information and apply for benefits online at VA’s www.eBenefits.va.gov and manage their health care at MyHealtheVet.va.gov.

There are three VA medical centers named for United States presidents.

In our first of three stories on these hospitals, we focus on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt campus of the Hudson Valley Healthcare System in Montrose, New York.

This week marks the 63rd anniversary of the opening of the hospital on May 15, 1950. It was front page news.

More Beds Needed After World War II

By 1944, VA operated eight hospitals with 8,034 beds in the state of New York. With the influx of returning World War II Veterans, more hospital beds were needed and sites near New York City were of particular interest. The government purchased the Boscobel land for $125,000 in April 1945. It was one of the last hospital sites selected by VA’s longest tenured administrator, General Frank T. Hines.

Four months later, in August 1945, General Hines was replaced by General Omar Bradley as VA Administrator. Bradley was charged by President Truman and Congress with modernizing the VA. In his brief two-year tenure, he made groundbreaking changes, including changing the look and location of Veterans hospitals.

Some of the most apparent differences between Bradley-era VA hospitals and those of the past were their locations, architecture, and scale: sites were selected in urban areas in proximity to medical schools, “skyscraper” hospitals were built up instead of sprawling outward to utilize a smaller footprint, and most were large with 1,000 plus beds. Montrose had nearly 2,000 beds.

President Truman Dedicated Hospital to FDR

President Harry S. Truman on September 26, 1945 officially designated the planned hospital at Montrose as the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Veterans Administration Hospital. It was the first VA hospital named after a U.S. president. This commemorative act took place less than six months after President Roosevelt’s death on April 12, 1945.

The new VA hospital at Montrose was uniquea hybridthat incorporated elements of World War I hospitals along with new components that Bradley wanted in World War II hospitals. Out of 72 hospital projects, Montrose was “the only departure from a ‘main building’ design.” Its rural setting was more typical of World War I-era hospitals, but its planned 2,000 beds made it one of the largest World War II-era hospitals at the time.

Construction of Montrose was slow moving, due initially to post-war inflation. Groundbreaking took place on February 12, 1947. Montrose officially opened on Monday, May 15, 1950, when the first patients were transferred from Halloran Army Hospital in New York City.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Campus, 2010

Mansion Disassembled and Moved

One of the interesting stories about the site involves the Boscobel Mansion.

In 1944, the Veterans Administration took an option on the Revolutionary War-era estate, known as Boscobel, situated on the banks of the Hudson River roughly 40 miles north of New York City.

Originally, the historic Boscobel mansion house stood at the current location of Building 29 at the FDR Montrose VA Hospital, overlooking the Hudson. It was completed in 1808 for the Morris States-Dyckman family and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Federal architecture in the country.

The mansion was meticulously taken apart and rebuilt further up the Hudson to make way for the new VA Hospital being built to serve America’s newest Veterans from WWII. The Wallace family of Reader’s Digest fame, long-time residents of the Hudson Valley, paid for the move and restoration efforts.

FDR VA is also home to the unique Veterans Sculpture Garden overlooking the Hudson. Sculptures of busts of Veterans from every war America has fought in are on display in this magnificent historic and well-visited meditation garden.

The molds for the busts have been replicated twice and are on display in the Westchester County Lasdon Park Veterans Walk and Memorial, and in the East Orange VA Hospital Museum.

The busts were all created by Nils Anderson, an artist who was a WWII Veteran and patient at FDR VA in the PTSD program, who completed the project through his art therapy program at Montrose. Nils Andersen was a famous artist prior to his difficulties that led him to VA and praises VA for having saved his life.

The garden also features ornamental trees and plantings and is used by the community, patients, visitors and staff.

Eleanor Roosevelt speaks at 10th Anniversary

Eleanor Roosevelt on the 10th Anniversary

Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the 10th Anniversary Voluntary Service Awards Program on Friday, May 20, 1960, at the Franklin D. Roosevelt VA Hospital in Montrose.

Her appearance was part of a four day 10th Anniversary Observance at the FDR-Montrose Hospital, which is today named VA Hudson Valley Health Care System-FDR Montrose Campus.

(Special thanks to Michael Stern, Psychologist and Acting Public Affairs Officer with the VA Hudson Valley Health Care System.)

Inside the brain — MRI scans are just one measure VA researchers are using to gain a glimpse of brain changes that signal Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt)

Research Week Salutes VA Pioneers

From inventing the implantable cardiac pacemaker to helping develop the brain-computer interface, VA Research has been improving the lives of all generations of Veterans for nearly nine decades.

VA Research has been part of numerous advances in treating heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, mental health disorders, and many other conditions and diseases that affect Veterans.

 VA Research has been improving the lives of…Veterans for nearly nine decades. 

This year, VA showcases the extraordinary work of VA researchers nationwide through National VA Research Week, May 13-17.

This year’s theme, “VA Research Inspires,” has in turn inspired a fount of creativity nationwide as VA medical centers ready for what promises to be an exciting week of activities and learning. Open houses, poster displays, presentations, award ceremonies and other events will feature the numerous advances and discoveries made by VA Research.

Former Navy sailor Ronald Mortenson, 67, had surgery seven years ago at the Baltimore VA Medical Center to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was part of a VA study comparing two ways to fix the problem. Read Ronald’s story.

Veteran Research Volunteers

Of course, none of these research breakthroughs would be possible without the Veterans who have volunteered to participate in VA studies. Whether it’s helping to find cures for illnesses or helping to improve VA health care for all Veterans, those who volunteer to take part in research deserve special thanks.

To learn more about VA Research and events marking this year’s National VA Research Week, visit www.research.va.gov and www.facebook.com/VAResearch.

Access the National Center for PTSD website from your mobile device.

More and more Veterans are using smart phones to access the Internet. To increase convenience and address this trend, VA has made it possible for Veterans to access post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) information in mobile-friendly formats: mobile-friendly website content, mobile self-help apps and “treatment companion” apps.

Mobile PTSD Website

You can now access the National Center for PTSD Website from your mobile device. This includes a page on Where to Get Help for PTSD and YouTube videos of Veterans who have lived with PTSD and therapists talking about PTSD treatment.

PTSD Coach Mobile App

VA’s “PTSD Coach” mobile app is here to help Veterans learn about and cope with the symptoms related to PTSD that commonly occur following trauma, such as reminders of the trauma, trouble sleeping, and anger.

Quickly find Where to Get Help for PTSD.

The PTSD Coach app features include:

• Reliable information on PTSD and treatments that work.
• Tools for screening and tracking your symptoms.
• Convenient, easy-to-use skills training to help you handle stress symptoms.
• Direct links to support and help.
• Always with you when you need it.

PTSD Coach has now been downloaded over 100,000 times in 74 countries around the world.

“Treatment Companion” Mobile Apps

To make PTSD treatment easier, different mobile apps called “treatment companion apps” have been developed.

These apps are for use between a patient and their health care provider. For example, to help with Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy for PTSD, PE Coach is a treatment companion that helps Veterans and their therapists work through the treatment manual.

Together with professional medical treatment, PTSD Coach provides you dependable resources you can trust. If you have, or think you might have PTSD, this app is for you. Family and friends can also benefit from this app.

PTSD Coach was created by the VA’s National Center for PTSD and the DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

NOTE: Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious mental health condition that often requires professional evaluation and treatment. PTSD Coach is not intended to replace needed professional care.

 PTSD Coach has now been downloaded over 100,000 times in 74 countries around the world. 

And There’s More

New PTSD and trauma related mobile apps are coming soon, including an app for another PTSD treatment that can help: Cognitive Processing Therapy. You can sign up to receive VA’s PTSD Monthly Update to be notified as new apps become available.

Mobile products are also here for health care providers who care for those with PTSD. To make best PTSD treatment practices conveniently available to mental health care workers, the National Center for PTSD has created a professional mobile section, including audio podcasts of PTSD 101 courses.

Help Raise PTSD Awareness

VA is providing these apps and more material online to help increase understanding of what PTSD is and that there are PTSD treatments that can help. Here is some information to guide your efforts: PTSD Awareness Month

“Veterans and Nurses, in partnership, make a world class patient experience,” says Cathy Rick, VA Chief Nursing Officer, second from the right, with patients and nursing staff at Milwaukee VA Medical Center.

This is National Nurses Week.

The American Nurses Association has designated this year’s National Nurses Week theme: “Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care.”

Join us in celebrating the men and women who serve this country by caring for its Veterans.

80,000 Nurses Caring for America’s Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs has one of the largest nursing staffs of any health care system in the world.

Numbering more than 80,000 nationwide, the VA integrated nursing team provides comprehensive, complex, and compassionate care to our nation’s Veterans.

VA’s nurses are a dynamic, diverse group of honored, respected, and compassionate professionals. VA is the leader in the creation of an organizational culture where excellence in nursing is valued as essential for quality health care to those who served America.

“VA nursing is at the center of generating value-based innovation. Their work is a demonstration of integrity, commitment, respect and excellence as we shape efforts to ensure access to personalized, proactive health care for Veterans,” according to Cathy Rick, VA’s Chief Nursing Officer.

She adds, “I am extremely proud to call myself a VA nurse.”

 National Nurses Week: Every year — May 6th through May 12. May 12 is Florence Nightingale’s birthday. 

The VA nursing team is composed of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/LVNs), nursing assistants, and intermediate care technicians.

VA nursing provides the largest clinical training and cooperative education opportunities in association with undergraduate and graduate programs at numerous colleges and universities.

In the 1990s, VA provided clinical experience to one out of every four professional nursing students in the country. VA nurses are highly valued members and leaders of the health care team, contributing their knowledge and expertise to the care of patients.

In addition to clinical care, VA nursing is also a significant part of advancing research in VA and keeping up with the latest technological innovations. Nurse researchers help to promote inclusion of evidence into practice to provide quality care for Veterans.

Components of VA Nursing

Professional nursing supports the mission of the VA health care system by providing state-of-the-art, cost-effective care to patients and families as they respond to illness and health issues.

In addition to medical, surgical and psychiatric units, VA nurses work in intensive care, spinal cord injury, geriatric, dialysis, blind rehabilitation, specialty care (such as diabetes clinics), hospice, domiciliary, oncology, and organ transplant units.

VA nurses provide care across a variety of settings including primary, ambulatory, acute, geriatrics, rehabilitation, and extended care settings.

They work in outpatient clinics, community living centers, and home-based primary care programs.

VA nurses also play a considerable role in emergency planning, preparedness, response, and recovery.

VA nurses proudly serve America’s heroes by practicing the art and science of nursing in order to provide holistic, evidence-based, high quality care.

Interested in a career as VA nurse? Start here: VA Careers

Eight interactive modules include videos, games and exercises.

Positive Change is One Click Away

Are you struggling with relationships, finances, finding a job, confusion about your future, dealing with loneliness, or adjusting to the challenges of civilian life? A new web program, entitled, Moving Forward, can help you start making steps toward positive change.

Moving Forward is a free, anonymous, online educational and life-coaching program that teaches problem-solving skills to help you overcome life’s challenges.

There are eight interactive modules include videos, games, and exercises.

It was designed specifically for Veterans and Military Service Members, but can help anyone facing stressful problems.

We all face challenges in life. Often, it is how we deal with them that determines our outcome. Moving Forward can help you understand your problem-solving strengths and weaknesses. It teaches a step-by-step approach which makes problems more manageable and less overwhelming.

 Veterans participating in the ‘live program’ have given it high marks. 

By clearly identifying your problems, goals, and obstacles, you can start to develop an action plan to effectively manage life’s challenges. Moving Forward can also help you reduce stress, “brain-overload”, pessimism, difficulties managing your emotions, and other factors that might make it hard for you to carry out that action plan.

Moving Forward provides you with a series of tools that you can choose among to best fit your situation. Rather than “give you fish,” it teaches you “how to fish.”

Moving Forward was developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services in partnership with the Department of Defense National Center for Telehealth and Technology as part of a coordinated public health initiative to help Veterans and Service Members.

Veterans give Moving Forward high marks and say it helps them cope with stress.

It is based on a highly effective cognitive behavioral treatment program that has been used successfully with Veterans across the country during the past several years.

The web program was developed to provide this service to individuals who have difficulty consistently visiting a VA center or who prefer to use the internet at their own pace, in the privacy of their own home.

Veterans participating in the “live program” have given it high marks, noting that it helped them feel more confident about their future, more able to cope with stress, and more optimistic about handing difficult problems that may arise.

Some Veterans use the program to meet new people, overcome anger problems, identify a more satisfying future career path, better handle being a new parent, and improve a romantic relationship.

A vast majority of Veterans who have participated in a Moving Forward program have noted that they would “definitely recommend the program to other Veterans and friends.”

We believe that it can help you, too. Why not give it a try? Getting rid of all that stress could be just one click away, here: www.startmovingforward.org

The old statement was confusing.

Every day, thousands of VA employees are working on things to make life easier for Veterans.

Good news does not always make the front page but here’s an impressive project just completed that will affect a lot of Veterans in a small but significant way every month.

Millions of Veterans receive health care services from VA Medical Centers each year. Veterans with a cost-sharing responsibility receive a patient billing statement.

VA received thousands of calls each month from Veterans and their families with questions about their statements. The high number of calls indicated the statement format was often confusing to customers.

So, the Veterans Health Administration’s Chief Business Office organized a workgroup to create a more patient-friendly statement that is easier to read and understand. Input from Veterans was used to develop improvements to the statement design.

The improved statement has a concise and easy-to-understand layout and several new features that address issues identified by Veterans.

New design with features Veterans wanted.

New Statement Design Features

The number one question Veterans had about the old statement was: “Where is my account number?” The account number is more prominently located on the new statement.

The new statement also provides a simple summary of charges, payments received, and balance owed. The location of the account summary was moved from the bottom of the statement to the top.

Veterans said they would like easy to find descriptions of the services they received. Now, services received, such as visits and prescriptions, are clearly listed on the statement.

The new statement also provides a clear explanation of payment options and balance due date.

Veterans began receiving the redesigned patient statements in March 2013, along with an insert that provides an overview of the new, patient-friendly design.

 Whoever was involved deserves a definite ‘Way to go!’ 

Sixteen Million “Little Things” That Matter

According to Philip Matkovsky, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Administrative Operations, “It may seem like a ‘little thing,’ but we generate somewhere over 16 million of these statements per year.”

How is the new statement being received? Here is just one of dozens of compliments received (and this from a Veteran’s wife who is a retired nurse): “Whoever was involved in redesigning the statement needs to know that the bill is now very understandable. They could hold a seminar for some insurance companies on how a billing statement should read. The pamphlet enclosed is very informative on how to read the new statement and whoever was involved deserves a definite ‘Way to go!’”

And says Rich Tremaine, Associate Director of the VA Central Western Massachusetts Health Care System, who is sometimes called on to explain the billing: “I just want to say as a Veteran, and an employee, thank you and your team for an outstanding product. This will make a huge difference in our Veterans’ ability to understand their VA bill.”

Greetings — Volunteers Ron Lord (left) and Dick Irish usually spend their time greeting visitors who arrive at the Erie VA. But one morning both men faced an unexpected crisis, and handled it like pros.

Sometimes life comes at you fast. Just ask Ron Lord and Dick Irish, two volunteers who were working the greeter’s desk at the Erie VA Medical Center on the morning of February 28, 2013.

The morning started out quietly enough as Ron Lord settled in at the greeter’s desk for the day. But all that changed around 7 a.m. when a Veteran experiencing extreme chest pains entered the lobby. Lord quickly took the Veteran over to a bench in the lobby to make him more comfortable.

At that moment, volunteer Dick Irish arrived and Lord immediately asked him to call 911 for a Rapid Response Team. Lord and Irish then worked together to direct visitors away from the congested area so Response Team members could stabilize the Veteran.

“There were three nurses from the VA Rapid Response Team,” Lord said. “They got here in less than five minutes.”

At one point during the episode the Response Team was suddenly in need of towels, which Lord was promptly able to provide thanks to a plentiful supply stored at the greeter’s desk.

“Our VA team helped get the patient on a stretcher, and then the Veteran was transported,” Dick Irish said. A few short minutes later, the ailing Veteran was in the capable hands of emergency room personnel.

 Those two guys are heroes. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis. 

“The whole incident only lasted maybe 15 minutes, but it seemed a lot longer,” Lord observed.

“It’s 15 minutes you don’t soon forget,” Irish agreed.

Not surprisingly, both Lord and Irish happen to be Veterans themselves. Lord served in the Army in the late 1960s; Irish served in the Navy from 1959 to 1963.

“Those two guys are heroes; they saved the day,” said Karen O’Neal, the Erie VA Voluntary Service Chief. “They both went above and beyond the duties of greeter’s desk volunteers. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis.”

Greetings — Volunteers Ron Lord (left) and Dick Irish usually spend their time greeting visitors who arrive at the Erie VA. But one morning both men faced an unexpected crisis, and handled it like pros.

Sometimes life comes at you fast. Just ask Ron Lord and Dick Irish, two volunteers who were working the greeter’s desk at the Erie VA Medical Center on the morning of February 28, 2013.

The morning started out quietly enough as Ron Lord settled in at the greeter’s desk for the day. But all that changed around 7 a.m. when a Veteran experiencing extreme chest pains entered the lobby. Lord quickly took the Veteran over to a bench in the lobby to make him more comfortable.

At that moment, volunteer Dick Irish arrived and Lord immediately asked him to call 911 for a Rapid Response Team. Lord and Irish then worked together to direct visitors away from the congested area so Response Team members could stabilize the Veteran.

“There were three nurses from the VA Rapid Response Team,” Lord said. “They got here in less than five minutes.”

At one point during the episode the Response Team was suddenly in need of towels, which Lord was promptly able to provide thanks to a plentiful supply stored at the greeter’s desk.

“Our VA team helped get the patient on a stretcher, and then the Veteran was transported,” Dick Irish said. A few short minutes later, the ailing Veteran was in the capable hands of emergency room personnel.

 Those two guys are heroes. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis. 

“The whole incident only lasted maybe 15 minutes, but it seemed a lot longer,” Lord observed.

“It’s 15 minutes you don’t soon forget,” Irish agreed.

Not surprisingly, both Lord and Irish happen to be Veterans themselves. Lord served in the Army in the late 1960s; Irish served in the Navy from 1959 to 1963.

“Those two guys are heroes; they saved the day,” said Karen O’Neal, the Erie VA Voluntary Service Chief. “They both went above and beyond the duties of greeter’s desk volunteers. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis.”

Greetings — Volunteers Ron Lord (left) and Dick Irish usually spend their time greeting visitors who arrive at the Erie VA. But one morning both men faced an unexpected crisis, and handled it like pros.

Sometimes life comes at you fast. Just ask Ron Lord and Dick Irish, two volunteers who were working the greeter’s desk at the Erie VA Medical Center on the morning of February 28, 2013.

The morning started out quietly enough as Ron Lord settled in at the greeter’s desk for the day. But all that changed around 7 a.m. when a Veteran experiencing extreme chest pains entered the lobby. Lord quickly took the Veteran over to a bench in the lobby to make him more comfortable.

At that moment, volunteer Dick Irish arrived and Lord immediately asked him to call 911 for a Rapid Response Team. Lord and Irish then worked together to direct visitors away from the congested area so Response Team members could stabilize the Veteran.

“There were three nurses from the VA Rapid Response Team,” Lord said. “They got here in less than five minutes.”

At one point during the episode the Response Team was suddenly in need of towels, which Lord was promptly able to provide thanks to a plentiful supply stored at the greeter’s desk.

“Our VA team helped get the patient on a stretcher, and then the Veteran was transported,” Dick Irish said. A few short minutes later, the ailing Veteran was in the capable hands of emergency room personnel.

 Those two guys are heroes. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis. 

“The whole incident only lasted maybe 15 minutes, but it seemed a lot longer,” Lord observed.

“It’s 15 minutes you don’t soon forget,” Irish agreed.

Not surprisingly, both Lord and Irish happen to be Veterans themselves. Lord served in the Army in the late 1960s; Irish served in the Navy from 1959 to 1963.

“Those two guys are heroes; they saved the day,” said Karen O’Neal, the Erie VA Voluntary Service Chief. “They both went above and beyond the duties of greeter’s desk volunteers. They both reacted quickly and, most importantly, remained very calm during a crisis.”