Latest news with #VAMedicalCenter
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Midstate students donate nearly 2k items, hundreds of dollars to Lebanon VA Medical Center
LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Midstate students delivered thousands of items and hundreds of dollars in checks and gift cards to the Lebanon VA Medical Center. The Williams Valley Vikings for Veterans organization was launched by Williams Valley High School senior Kaitlyn Balliet. She says she started the group to honor vets from her family. Items gathered and donated included things like soap, toothpaste, and clothing. 'It was kind of a slow pace when we first started,' Balliet said, 'I had gone to my history teacher and then I asked if we thought we could do something like this and we proposed it to my principal, then I went to a school board meeting and they thought it was a great idea.' 'We put bins in every single classroom and there were kids bringing stuff in about everyday,' she added. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices She said some local businesses and others also committed a little more than $500 to the cause, which was donated as checks and gift cards. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Town hall meeting for veterans held in Braxton County
SUTTON W. Va. (WBOY) — The Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center hosted a town hall meeting on Wednesday at the Braxton County Senior Citizens Center where veterans could voice their concerns and hear about new events and services the center is offering. Representatives with the VA Medical Center talked about an upcoming claims clinic for veterans to get health benefits through the PACT Act. Passed in 2022, the PACT Act expands VA health care for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. The clinic will be on May 7 at the Nathan Goff Armory from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Executive Medical Center Director Barbara Forsha encourages veterans to come out and see if they qualify for benefits as the PACT Act added a number of conditions that allow veterans to gain treatment. Senator Capito visits Braxton County Middle School for 'West Virginia Girls Rise Up' event Representatives of the VA Medical Center also talked about the treatment it's offering for sleep apnea as well as the medical services it's offering virtually. At the meeting, Forsha made mention of the federal job cuts that hit the VA, saying that at Louis A. Johnson, the cuts were limited and that it won't affect the quality of care. Forsha told 12 News that Louis A. Johnson lost four probationary employees total. Louis A. Johnson will host a number of other town halls this spring. One at the Morgantown Vet Center on March 27 at 5 p.m. and another at the Tucker County Senior Citizens Center on April 10 at 5 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
VA secretary in Nashville pledges to keep health care ‘first priority' amid DOGE cuts
With tens of thousands of layoffs underway at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Secretary Doug Collins said Monday during a stop in Nashville his goal in the agency's restructuring is providing better quality patient care while cutting bureaucracy and fixing long wait times. For years, many VA facilities have struggled to provide high quality care for patients. The Memphis VA Medical Center, for instance, has received low ratings and scrutiny over patient safety issues and wait times. 'The VA has been the whipping post for a long time. It's been the thing everybody blames when it doesn't go right. It's been a place that, 'well, we can't get our service, we can't get this. And then on the other part, we'll just not do anything about it,'' Collins said. 'Those days are over.' The Trump administration is planning an aggressive reorganization at the VA, including cutting up to 80,000 jobs, in an effort to trim the federal workforce by at least 15%. 'We will have some changes coming to the VA. There's going to be some reorganization,' Collins said Monday. 'But first and foremost, that reorganization is not going to be toward anything that takes away from care of our patients and our disability services.' Collins visited the Nashville VA Medical Center on Monday morning alongside U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, and U.S. Reps. Diana Harshbarger, R-Kingsport, and Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville. All three members of Congress that represent Nashville were notably absent: U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville, and veteran and physician U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Clarksville. DOGE-led cuts at the VA have already impacted Tennessee. Since January, between 40 and 50 federal employees have been laid off or taken buyouts across Tennessee's VA facilities, including laborers, file clerks, and an interior designer. 'We're going to make sure that the first priority is our veterans, and our veterans are going to be at the forefront of everything we do,' Collins said. 'No benefits and no health care has been cut. … That's not even on the table.' The VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System provides specialized health care services to more than 146,000 veterans in Middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky and North Georgia. For the first time in 2023, the Tennessee system received a 4-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Collins said health care providers and other roles essential to veterans services are protected from layoffs, and will continue to be. He denounced reports that positions are being 'randomly cut' from the agency as attempts to 'scare my veterans.' 'I'm not sure interior designers, laborers and file room clerks who were part of the first layoff that we had are actually affecting an appointment being missed or surgeries being canceled,' he said. He acknowledged long wait times for appointments and issues accessing care have plagued the agency. But, he argued, problems 'didn't start five weeks ago" when President Donald Trump took office. While many veterans have protested cuts ― even at Tennessee's state Capitol ― and shared concerns that staffing cuts would negatively impact patient services, Collins said infusion of funding and staff has not improved the agency's metrics. 'Explain to me how you added tens of billions of dollars – over $100 billion – and added almost 50 to 70,000 people in the last four years, and many of our metrics did not get better,' Collins said. 'How does that happen? Well, it tells me that maybe that's not the answer.' Blackburn, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, praised Collins' commitment to a "change of culture" at the agency, citing wait times of 30 to 70 days for primary care appointments. He said restructuring the agency and eliminating positions isn't a new idea, pointing to tens of thousands of VA positions that were eliminated during bureaucracy cuts in the Clinton administration. 'Maybe it's time that we actually look at how we're actually delivering,' Collins said. 'Are the bureaucratic structures that we have at our hospitals, are they doing what they're supposed to be doing to actually help with patient quality?' Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: VA Secretary Doug Collins in Nashville: Health care a 'first priority'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters say DOGE-related cuts will be ‘very, very bad' for veterans health
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Nearly 30 people gathered at the Mountain Home VA to protest President Donald Trump's efforts to reduce the size of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs provides healthcare for veterans. However, after recent DOGE-related job cuts, the department is considering departing with 80,000 probationary employees. PREVIOUS: James H. Quillen VA Medical Center has 'dismissed a small number of probationary staff' News Channel 11 was at the protest and spoke with Terryl Yates, a protester who was passionately against the job cuts. 'Because so much of the budget that they've cut is actually for veterans health, this is going to be very, very bad for the health of our veterans, the people who actually have stood between us and the evil of the world,' Yates said. 'These people are the ones being targeted among other groups. But we're here today to talk about the veterans.' Quarry, truck traffic concern Erwin neighbors taken by surprise Yates said veterans deserve more resources to support them after service rather than having them taken away as part of a tax reduction. 'We should always be doing more for the veterans, not looking for ways to cut,' Yates said. 'Most of us are very much against the tax cuts until our budget is balanced. There should not be tax cuts for anyone, especially billionaires.' Yates said people driving by the protests showed signs of support; one person even apologized for his November vote. 'And the people who've driven by, they have honked, they slowed by and told us their support,' Yates said. 'We had one person who rolled down his window and said he voted for Trump but was 'sorry that he did.'' Friday's protest was part of a nationwide effort. More protests are planned, including one on Saturday at Cumberland Park in Bristol, Virginia, at 4 p.m. 'End Hate Don't Discriminate' will address marginalized communities in Bristol, including immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. 'We've got many more things that are planned in the future to let people know that we are here and we're watching, and we're not going to be quiet,' Yates said. Kevin Jenkins, a former congressional candidate for Tennessee District 1; Neal Osborne, a councilman in Bristol, Virginia; and Kate Craig, a former Tennessee State Senate District 3 candidate, will speak at the protest on Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Yahoo
Kalamazoo Metro reduces bus service hours due to driver shortage
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Some Kalamazoo bus routes will have altered schedules starting next week because of a shortage of drivers, Metro said. Routes 2 – Portage, 7 – Alamo and 14 – West Main will suspend half-hour service but continue to run on the :15 hourly schedule, according to Kalamazoo Metro Transit. The following routes will end services at 6:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, with no Saturday or Sunday service: 26 – West Centre, and 27 – Romence. The changes begin March 17 and will be updated in the myStop Mobile and Track My Bus apps, Metro said. Survey launched to learn what brings people to downtown Kalamazoo 'We look forward to resuming full service to all routes as quickly as possible,' the bus system wrote on its , blaming the changed hours on a shortage of drivers. Metro suggested using alternate transportation such as the , on-demand vehicles that can transport riders to bus stops or certain destinations, and , a curb-to-curb shared-ride service that goes anywhere in Kalamazoo County and the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek. For more information on alternative travel or new service hours, visit the . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
