Indian Health Service: IHS and VA Launch a New Interagency Map Application for Native Veterans. “The Indian Health Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs have launched a new interagency map application, Find Health Care & Resources for Native Veterans, to increase access to health care, community-based resources, and other essential services for American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.”
Veterans Administration: Geo-mapping tool builds a path for new partnerships. “VA’s new academic geo-mapping tool was designed to help VA medical facilities identify potential Minority Serving Institution (MSI) academic partners in their area to expand health professions training.”
FedScoop: National Archives allocates $600,000 to transfer digitized veterans’ records from the VA. “The National Archives and Records Administration has allocated $600,000 to transfer digitized veterans’ records from the Department of Veterans Affairs as it continues to work through a backlog of document requests, according to details set out in a strategic plan.”
Veteran’s Administration: Got a VA question? Use the new virtual chatbot 24/7. “Got a question about your VA benefits, health care, eligibility? You might want to check VA’s website, where you can access a new interactive chatbot to ask questions—24 hours a day, seven days a week. Veterans, caregivers and families can still browse the website or search it for information, but in addition you can now ask specific questions to the chatbot.”
PR Newswire: New Zillow tool helps veterans nationwide discover condos eligible for VA loans (PRESS RELEASE). “Today, Zillow announced that condo listings on its site and apps will include information about the home’s eligibility for a loan from the VA. This new Zillow feature is designed to help the 19 million veterans who are eligible to fund their home purchase using a VA loan.” Apparently there are different rules for condo eligibility vs home eligibility, thus the focus of the new feature.
US Department of Veterans Affairs: AARP launches free online hub to help Veterans fight fraud. “AARP’s Veterans Fraud Center offers free information on the latest scams targeting the military community, tips for spotting other types of consumer fraud, and specially tailored resources to help protect Veterans and military families.”
Veterans Administration: Bridge My Return opens to spouses, caregivers. “Bridge My Return (BMR) is now open to military and Veteran spouses and caregivers to help them find meaningful employment. Military spouses often make personal career sacrifices to follow their service member’s military career. These may include moves every 2-3 years, postings to remote duty stations with limited career opportunities, or multiple deployments of their service member, effectively leaving them as single parents.”
CNN: Department of Veterans Affairs will require health workers to be vaccinated. “The Department of Veterans Affairs will require many of its frontline health workers to be vaccinated, the agency announced on Monday, making it the first area of the federal government to require shots among some of its workers. It was a major step from the administration toward backing vaccine requirements, which it had until now been reluctant to support.”
Military .com: VA Is Asking DOJ for Help Getting Back GIBill.com After Losing Domain Rights. “The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking the Department of Justice to step in after it lost control of the domain ‘GIBill.com,’ a site that has previously been used by scammers.”
The Daily Beast: Veterans Saw Friends Die From COVID. Then It Got Worse.. “First the coronavirus spread inside the Lyons, New Jersey, long-term Veterans Affairs facility and ravaged residents and staff. Then came what workers and veterans described as indifference and neglect from Lyons administrators as the bodies piled up and the lockdown dragged on. But to them, the worst part, the part that is ongoing nine months into the COVID-19 outbreak in America, has been watching people who need help and dignity, long after serving their country, give up.”
Stars and Stripes: Coronavirus cases among VA patients surpass 13,000. “More than 13,300 Department of Veterans Affairs patients are sick with the coronavirus — a number that more than doubled in the past 20 days and represents the most active cases the VA has ever had at one time. Cases have increased 108% since Nov. 2. On that day, VA cases hit an all-time high, surpassing the number of active cases seen during a surge of the virus in July. Every day since Nov. 2, the department has set a new record.”
Military Times: VA’s active coronavirus cases jump to more than 10,000. “Active coronavirus cases among Department of Veterans Affairs patients reached their 14th consecutive day of record-high levels over the weekend, surpassing 10,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Before November, the total active cases spread across the department’s medical centers had not gone above 6,400 at any point since the first coronavirus cases in America were identified in early March.”
Stars and Stripes: More than 4,000 VA patients have died from coronavirus. “Such as with the overall population, cases among veterans are surging in the Midwest. The Minneapolis VA hospital has the most cases across the VA system, with 187 patients who are currently sick with the virus. Milwaukee, Wisc., is a close second, with 183 patients.”
Connecting Vets: About 17 VA patients have died of COVID-19 daily since the first veteran death 7 months ago. “On March 14, the Department of Veterans Affairs recorded its first veteran lost to the coronavirus. Now, seven months later, 3,667 VA patients have died because of the fast-spreading virus, an average of about 17 each day. That is roughly the same number of veterans who die by suicide each day on average, according to VA data, something the president and his administration, lawmakers and advocates have repeatedly referred to as a ‘crisis’ and a ‘top priority.’”
US Department of Veterans Affairs: New site offers Veterans, family members VA benefits, services information. “VA’s new website landing page makes it easier for Veterans and family members to access VA benefits and services information. The website, http://www.va.gov/getstarted, provides two newly updated booklets on information about VA benefits and services, as well as how to apply for them.”
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