Suffolk County Veterans Advisory Committee

ATTENTION ALL VETERANS
Armed Forces Day - Saturday, May 20, 2023

Expanded presumptive disability benefits for Vietnam Veterans

Expanded presumptive disability benefits for Vietnam Veterans - VA News The PACT Act has expanded access to VA disability compensation for Vietnam Veterans. Here are the added locations and presumptions.

It's not too late to join the fun and support for a worthy cause.

Dolan KenAmerican Legion Donald C Munro Post 944 Kings Park NY
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American Legion ~ Donald C. Munro Post 944
Inaugural Golf Outing in Celebration of Our 100th Anniversary 2023
100 years of service to our veterans and community.
Come out and support this historic event.

Find PTS Treatment Options During Awareness Month.

There's lots of reasons to stay alive, let someone help you to find them.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVHA/bulletins/31b4427

Find PTSD Treatment Options During Awareness Month Find PTSD Treatment Options During Awareness Month Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 06/09/2022 11:00 AM EDT View as a webpage / Share PTSD Treatment Can Turn Your Life Around PTSD Awareness Month is about spreading the word that PTSD treatments are available and can help lead to....

OPPOSE VA Resources going to Southern Border to Help Illegal Aliens

Senator John Boozman (AR) has introduced legislation (S. 4082) to block the Department of Veterans Affairs from diverting veteran's resources to manage the crisis at the southern border. The Dept. of Homeland Security has confirmed that the Biden administration is considering diverting VA manpower and funding to the border. The deployment of VA personnel at the Southern border will impact veterans' ability to receive timely care from the VA. Contact your Representatives and Senators to express disapproval of any contingency plan which uses personnel from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deal with the Southern border crisis.

Share Your Support for PTSD Awareness Month

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVHA/bulletins/31449be

Share Your Support for PTSD Awareness Month Share Your Support for PTSD Awareness Month Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 04/28/2022 11:00 AM EDT View as a webpage / Share Share Your Support on Social Media After thousands joined us in 2021, we are excited to host the second annual Step Up for PTSD Awareness Virtual Walk th...

Mentors Needed | Volunteer to "Carry the Load" | Free National Park Pass.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors seeks service members, Veterans to serve as mentors to grieving military children.

https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/102586/tragedy-assistance/?utm_source=Feature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=VetResources&utm_id=27APR2022

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors seeks service members, Veterans to serve as mentors to grieving military children - VAntage Point The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors is looking for Veterans to serve as supportive mentors to children of America’s fallen military.

ALL Veterans contact your U.S. Senators and DEMAND that they take action to pass the "Honoring Our PACT Act."

Pass the "Honoring Our PACT Act" Now!


The House has passed the "Honoring Our PACT Act" (HR 3967) sponsored by the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) Chairman Mark Takano (CA). This bill needs to be approved by the Senate. The bill would allow for the first time all veterans who were at risk of toxic exposure, including 3.5 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, to obtain immediate and lifelong access to health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-one of the largest expansions of health care eligibility in the VA's history. The bill would provide presumptive care for numerous conditions for veterans sickened by exposure to burn pits and other toxins. HR 3967 would also establish a new science-based and veteran-focused process for the establishment of new presumptive conditions and would provide benefits to thousands of toxic exposure veterans who have been long-ignored or forgotten, including Agent Orange veterans suffering from hypertension.

New Coast Guard cutter named for a reluctant Long Island hero

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/clarence-sutphin-coast-guard-hero-world-war-ii-mu7cnztr

New Coast Guard cutter named for a reluctant Long Island hero Clarence Sutphin, who died in 1992, repeatedly risked his life to save others as a member of the Coast Guard in the Pacific during World War II, but his family knew little of his heroics.

V.A. report recommends dismantling Northport VAMC

by David Ambro – (The Smithtown News)

An 82-page report released by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission outlines the recommendations for veterans’ services on Long Island moving into the future.

According to the report, based on data analysis, interviews with Veterans Integrated Services Network (VICN) and VA medical center leaders and input from veterans, the VA has developed a series of recommendations designed to ensure that veterans for generations to come have access to medical care they have earned defending the country. The report covers the VA’s’ operations in the northeast United States including Long Island, where there is one of the largest veterans’ populations in the country.

Long Island, the report discloses, is facing a markedly decreasing veterans’ enrollment in VA programs, and that inpatient services demand is decreasing while outpatient demands is increasing. “There is a need to invest in the ongoing community living center (CLC), inpatient mental health, and outpatient services needs of the veterans’ population on Long Island,” the report says.

According to the report, inpatient medical and surgical services performed at the aging Norhtport VAMC (VAMC) on Middleville Road in Northport will be transitioned to other “academic affiliates,” which include State University of New York at Stony Brook. The residential rehabilitation treatment program (RRTP) at Northport VAMC will be moved to the more modern St. Albans VAMC in Jamaica, Queens. “The strategy for the market is intended to provide veterans today and in the future with access to high quality and conveniently located care in modern infrastructure,” the report says.

“The current academic affiliate hospital, Stony Brook University Hospital, has the capability to manage high complexity care and the capacity to accommodate VA’s’ demand. Additionally other high quality academic medical institutions have increased their presence on Long Island, creating multiple partnership opportunities for VA to enhance Veterans’ access, “the report says. “Furthermore, the recommendation will allow VA providers to deliver inpatient care at the partner facility, veterans will also have the option to utilize surrounding VA sites of care for acute care services.”

As for the St. Albans VAMC proposal, the report says it’s located 42 miles from Northport VAMC. “The proposed new St. Albans 84 bed RRTP will have the capacity to accommodate the demand from the Northport VAMC,” report says. “It will offer programs focused on subacute rehabilitation, substance use disorder, serious mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and homelessness. Additionally, relocating outpatient and urgent care services from the Northport VAMC campus to proposed multi-specialty, community-based outpatient clinic (MS CBOC) in Western Suffolk County will provide greater access in a convenient location.”

The report also discloses that a MS CBOC is proposed to be established in Commack, NY. An MS CBOC in the vicinity of Commack will provide a new specialty care access point, reducing travel times to the Northport VAMC through a centrally located facility near the intersection of major highways,” says the report.

Also recommended in the report is to discontinue the emergency department at the Northport VAMC and relocate those services to area hospitals. There were 10,531 emergency room encounters at the Northport VAMC in 2019, which is a decline over three (3) of 16.9%. “Three of the top five community hospitals in the Northport area have Level 1 Trauma Centers and one community hospital has a Level 2 Trauma Center,” report says. Relocating the emergency department to community providers will deliver ample emergency services to the enrollee population. With no ability to admit patients due to the recommended relocation of inpatient medical and surgical services, the VAMC will discontinue emergency services.”

According to the report, in 2019 there were 50,121 veterans enrolled at the VA, the largest population of which is in Suffolk County. It is projected that by 2029 overall enrollment will decline by 31.8%, demand for inpatient medical and surgical services is projected to decrease by 17.5%, demand for inpatient mental health services is projected to decline by 8.8%, and demand for long-term care is projected to decrease by 11%. Demand for outpatient services, including primary care, mental health, specialty care, dental care and rehabilitation therapies is expected to increase during that period.

According to the report, the Northport VA was established in the 1920s on a 268-acre campus that does not meet current VA design standards. "Beginning in the late 1970s, modern health care
design principles began to emerge and become more standard (e.g., floor-to-floor heights, corridor widths, columns spacing requirements columns spacing, and utility footnote in the report

The report discloses that facility deficiencies will cost approximately $610.9 million to address and the annual operations and maintenance costs pf the facility are $16.7 million. "To provide a safe environment for care, extensive repairs to the wastewater treatment plant, boiler plant, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, electrical ' systems, roads, parking lots, and sidewalks are all needed.

The report also discloses that 20-acres of the Northport site are available for additional development, though a nine-hole public golf course is currently operated on a portion of that land and in the past an assisted living facility had been proposed for the site, but that project has been dormant for the past decade.

“VA recommends rebuilding the Northport VAMC as a subacute campus, which will enhance quality and efficiency of health care delivery for the enrollee population and alleviate the need off costly repairs of site conditions and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems,” report says. The modernized Northport VAMC will deliver inpatient mental health, community living centers (CLC) and rehabilitation medicine services.”
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