Veterans Getting Random Acts of Flowers

Petal Power: Recycled flowers bring smiles to veterans' faces in Florida

Connecting Vets
JULIA LEDOUX
AUGUST 21, 2019

Random Acts of Flowers began because of a near-fatal accident suffered by its founder, Larsen Jay, who fell off a ladder two stories tall and broke every bone in his body in 2007. “He got overwhelming support,” said Donoghue. “His whole hospital room was full of flowers.”

We’ve all heard of recycling plastic, glass and paper.

But what about recycling flowers for veterans?

That’s exactly what Random Acts of Flowers does.

The non-profit recycles and repurposes day-old flowers and delivers them to patients at the Bay Pines Veterans Hospital and other hospitals, hospices and nursing facilities throughout the greater Tampa Bay, Fla. area.

The volunteers who deliver the flowers to the VA medical center are all veterans themselves, said Janette Donoghue, executive director of Random Acts of Flowers Tampa Bay.

“It’s near and dear to their hearts,” she said. “That’s something they want to do, it’s a veteran giving to a veteran.”
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Florida veteran built IED and brought it to Bay Pines VA Hospital?

Florida man arrested for allegedly placing bomb at veterans hospital

ABC News
By LUKE BARR
Jun 5, 2019

A man in Florida was arrested for allegedly placing an improvised electronic device (IED) outside of a Veterans Administration hospital in Bay Pines.

Mark Edward Allen, 60, allegedly made the explosive device found at the hospital, as well as an IED found at a home in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to court documents. He made his initial court appearance on Tuesday.

Allen is charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device.

Tampa police found the IED at the hospital on May 29. Later, Allen’s wife later called the St. Petersburg police and told them that her husband had made a bomb. While he was sleeping, she drove the IED to a friend’s house because she was "scared,” according to court documents.

Allen, a U.S. Army veteran, was captured on surveillance video allegedly placing the IED at the hospital, prosecutors say.
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Retired Marine Col. Jim Turner took his life at Bay Pines

Jim Turner, a retired Marine colonel, took his life at the Bay Pines VA campus

Tampa Bay Times
By Howard Altman 
Published 28 minutes ago

ST. PETERSBURG — On Dec. 10, retired Marine Col. Jim Turner put on his dress uniform and medals and drove to the Bay Pines Department of Veterans Affairs complex. He got out of his truck, sat down on top of his military records and took his own life with a rifle.

Aside from leaving behind grieving family and friends, Turner, 55, of Belleair Bluffs, left behind a suicide note that blasted the VA for what he said was its failure to help him.

"I bet if you look at the 22 suicides a day you will see VA screwed up in 90%," wrote Turner, who was well-known and well-respected in military circles. "I did 20+ years, had PTSD and still had to pay over $1,000 a month health care."

Captain Ryan Spangler (left) and Gunnery Sgt. Tousnel Renaud (right), with the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, United States Marine Corps Reserve in Tampa, fold one of the two American flags that are to be presented to the family at the end of the memorial service Friday afternoon, at the Serenity Funeral Home in Largo, for retired Marine Col. James "Jim" Turner IV, who took his life at Bay Pines Dec. 10. (DIRK SHADD | Times)

Vietnam War Navy veteran Jerry Reid, 67, may have driven to the VA to take his own life on Feb. 7, 2013, because he lived alone and didn’t want to have his body found weeks or months later, said his friend, Bob Marcus.

Joseph Jorden, 57, a medically retired Army Green Beret, likely took his life at Bay Pines on March 17, 2017, not because of poor treatment, but because he felt safe there, said his brother, Mark Jorden.

But Gerhard Reitmann, 66, who served with the Marines in Vietnam and later as a guard for President Richard Nixon at Camp David, “felt like the VA wasn’t really taking care of him” when he ended his life at Bay Pines on Aug. 25, 2015, said his brother, Stephan Reitmann.

The mother of Esteban Rosario, 24, who ended his life at Bay Pines on May 8, 2013, could not be reached for comment. read more here

Veteran's Body Left in Shower Room After He Died?

10Investigates: Veteran's body forgotten about
WTSP
Noah Pransky
November 29, 2016

PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida – 10Investigates discovered a scandal – and attempted cover-up – at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center has cast a shadow over the facility’s otherwise reputable hospice unit.

A whistleblower tipped 10Investigates off to a Feb. 16, 2016 incident where an elderly veteran passed away, then forgotten about for nearly 10 hours in a shower room after his body was prepared for the morgue. According to an agency review, employees then lied and falsely documented the process to cover-up the mistakes.

The report, which was heavily-redacted by the VA, concluded “negligence” and a “lack of respect” for the deceased veteran.

“We honor America’s veterans,” said Bay Pines spokesperson Jason Dangle. Dangle is also a retired veteran. “We view this finding unacceptable and have taken appropriate actions to mitigate and correct the issue."

Dangle confirmed discipline for the employees involved, but the VA redacted all names and specifics as well for “privacy” reasons. So the public will never know where those employees might resurface.
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Family Wants Change After Vietnam Veteran Committed Suicide At Bay Pines VA

Veteran suicide epidemic: Family members call for action
WTSP News
Phil Buck
November 11, 2016

“There’s still so much going on over there, there are so many young kids coming back that are in the same position. This is going to continue unless they change that whole system.” Linda Aurin

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WTSP) – Thousands of veterans have gone to the VA medical center at Bay Pines in Florida for various types of health care. On August 25th, 2015, former U.S. Marine Gerhard Reitmann, a Vietnam War veteran, went to Bay Pines for a different reason.

That morning Gerhard called his brother Stephen, then went to a parking lot on the Bay Pines campus and shot himself. After years of living with post-traumatic stress from his tours in Vietnam, Gerhard Reitmann decided he could not endure another day.

“That’s one of the biggest reasons why he did it at the V.A.,” said Stephen Reitmann more than a year after his brother’s suicide. “He wanted to show ‘you’re not taking care of me’.”

Now having had time to reflect and go over the final years of his brother’s life in hindsight, Stephen and his partner Linda Aurin saw the warning signs were there.

“You could see what he was thinking by seeing all these little tidbits,” said Stephen, describing what he found in Gerhard’s apartment after his suicide. “Little notes here, a bible, and you put it all together and you go ‘oh, this is how you’re supposed to feel when you’re committing suicide’.”

“We could have helped him and because of who he is, he didn’t ask. And that’s the horrible part about suicide,” said Aurin. “The last time we stopped in and saw him we noticed that he had newspapers covering his walls, all his blinds were closed because he was very paranoid, he was asking us did we want to take stuff. At that point we didn’t realize but that was pretty close to when it happened.”
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VA treats PTSD better than the private sector

Just a simple fact: The VA started all the research on PTSD, so you'd think they would be better prepared than the private sector. They have simply been doing it a lot longer. Veterans do not believe the private sector understands them at all.

Study finds that VA treats PTSD better than the private sector
Tampa Bay Times
By Les Neuhaus, Times Correspondent
May 30, 2016

"It either points to how good of a job the VA is doing or how bad of a job the private sector is doing."
Dr. Katherine Watkins

SEMINOLE — On May 10, 1967, U.S. Marine Corps infantryman John Paul was seriously wounded during a battle in South Vietnam's A Shau Valley near the North Vietnamese border.

"When I got hit, I was standing up,'' Paul, 67, recalled during a recent interview. "I was shot twice in the abdomen and left hip. … I thought I bought the farm."

He spent six months in a series of hospitals, and when he was discharged from the Marines, his limp was not his only reminder of his brush with death.

"I was a mess for years," he said, adding that he drank heavily to medicate the mixed feelings he had about the war.

In 1991, he started getting help for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center at Bay Pines. A recent study published online in a journal produced by the American Psychiatric Association indicates he made a good choice.
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Vietnam Veteran With PTSD At Bay Pines for 36 Years

Florida VA Clinic Provides Care for Vets With PTSD 
Department of Defense
By Shannon Collins
DoD News Features
November 24, 2015

Taylor, a Marine Corps and Vietnam War veteran who’s worked with the VA for more than 36 years and has PTSD himself, said he’s seen many positive changes in the VA for the treatment of PTSD.

Army veteran Manuel “Al” Alcantara, right, and Vietnam veteran Jim Alderman share stories beside a duck pond after a day’s therapy at the inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder clinic at Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bay Pines, Fla., Oct. 29, 2015. DoD photo by EJ Hersom

BAY PINES, Fla., November 24, 2015 — For veterans who may have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to wartime trauma or military sexual trauma, their first step is to contact their local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center or outpatient center.

But if veterans require more care, they can voluntarily check in at inpatient centers such as the Bay Pines VA Medical Center here.

Bay Pines has a 14-bed residential program for veterans with war-caused PTSD and a separate wing for veterans with PTSD caused by military sexual trauma.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ PTSD website, military sexual trauma, or MST, is the term used by the VA to refer to experiences of sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that a veteran experienced during his or her military service.

The definition for military sexual trauma used by the VA comes from federal law -- Title 38 U.S. Code 1720D. Under that law, MST is defined as: "Psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a VA mental health professional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training."

Sexual harassment is further defined by the law as "repeated, unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature which is threatening in character."

Bay Pines is the only VA inpatient facility that treats PTSD caused by MST, said Tony Taylor, program manager for the warzone PTSD program at Bay Pines.
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Tampa VA Employee Fire For Not Spying?

Former worker says Bay Pines VA harassed him for not spying
Tampa Bay Online
By Howard Altman
Tribune Staff
Published: August 10, 2015

Keith Hansford says his problems with the Bay Pines VA Police Department began almost as soon as he was promoted to officer in 2010.

Hansford, 52, worked his way up from a housekeeper at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital to a dispatcher. But Hansford said assistant police chief Manuel Morales wanted him to serve as an informant against officers who had sued the department. Hansford said that when he refused, his supervisors began a campaign of harassment against him that has continued even after he resigned in 2012.

The retaliation reached a peak, Hansford said, after he complained to Bay Pines hospital director Suzanne Klinker that untrained personnel were serving as VA police dispatchers and that VA police dispatch records about problems caused by that move had been deleted or never entered.

Hansford made these allegations in a claim filed last week against the VA, announcing he is seeking nearly $5 million as compensation for lost income and benefits as well as pain and suffering and loss of consortium, a legal term for the loss of marital relations. The claim says Hansford suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as the result of how he was treated.

The claim is the first step in filing a lawsuit against a government agency, allowing the agency 180 days to settle, reach a compromise or take no action.
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Veterans Court May Provide Intervention in Florida

Veterans court would provide intervention for troubled vets in Manatee-Sarasota
Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
March 22, 2015

MANATEE -- A delegation from Bradenton-Sarasota visiting veterans court Monday in Pinellas County can expect to see a court proceeding that is unique, emotional and even uplifting.

Those who have watched Judge Dee Anna Farnell preside at veterans court describe her as passionate in her desire to help troubled vets overwhelmed by psychological and physical wounds suffered while in service to their country.

"She is a very dynamic person. She comes off the bench and stands next to the veteran," said Patrick Diggs, who serves as a justice-outreach coordinator for Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"It takes a special type of judge to facilitate the delicate balance between compassion, helping the veteran and public safety," Diggs said.

State Attorney Ed Brodsky of the 12th Judicial Circuit wants to explore launching veterans court in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties as a way of helping vets who honorably served the United States, and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, homelessness and unemployment. Veterans court would be keyed to nonviolent offenders who pose a threat to themselves but not society.
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VA Changed Appointment Wait Times in House VA Committee Chairman's Home State

While members Congress wants to blame the head of the VA, no matter who it is or when, they never seem to be able to apologize to veterans for what they failed to do. Veterans contact their elected officials all the time and they do complain. They have been complaining for decades about all of this. No member of congress can claim they didn't know about any of this but what is worse is, they think they can get away with the Sgt. Schultz Excuse of "I know nothing" when it was their jobs to not only know, but fix it! Now there is a report out of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman's home state of Florida.

Some Florida VA health facilities changed appointment requests to improve wait times
Pensacola News Journal
Ledyard King
July 28, 2014

VA executives are so driven in their quest for performance bonuses, promotions and power that they are willing to lie, cheat and put the health of the veterans they were hired to serve at risk,” (Jeff Miller)

Details of an internal VA audit of improper scheduling practices were released Monday were referred last month to the agency’s inspector general for further review.

WASHINGTON – Schedulers at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic at Eglin Air Force Base were told to improve wait times by changing the date veterans requested a medical appointment so it appeared they got treated within 14 days of their request.

Staff at the VA’s medical center at Bay Pines health center in St. Petersburg were encouraged to align appointment dates requested by veterans with the actual dates they received medical care.

Workers at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center in Pensacola kept a paper list of patients to call back about appointments because they were confused about what to log in the VA’s computerized calendar.

Details of an internal VA audit conducted in May of improper scheduling practices were released Monday, shedding light as to why 112 VA medical facilities — including six in Florida — were referred last month to the agency’s inspector general for further review.
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Veteran killed by police at Bay Pines VA Center

UPDATE

FBI identifies veteran killed in VA hospital incident
Tampa Tribune
By Howard Altman
Tribune Staff
Published: October 26, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG — The FBI has identified the 68-year-old veteran who was shot to death by police after officials said he threatened them Friday night at Bay Pines VA Medical Center.

Officials say Vincent L. Young, 9261 48th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, drove to the medical center at 10000 Bay Pines Blvd. at about 5 p.m. Friday and walked into the lobby of the emergency room carrying a backpack.

Young said he had a bomb, and when police with the Department of Veterans Affairs confronted him, he brandished a knife and lunged at them, said Special Agent Dave Couvertier with the FBI.

The VA police officers shot and wounded Young, who lived in a neighborhood just across Bay Pines Boulevard from the medical center. He was treated at the hospital, but died there from his injuries.

The emergency room at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center reopened at 8 a.m. Saturday.
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Veteran, 68, shot dead at St. Pete VA hospital
The Tampa Tribune
BY JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA
Published: October 25, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG — Police fatally shot a 68-year-old veteran who claimed he had a bomb and lunged at them with a knife in the emergency room of the Bay Pines VA Health Care center, an FBI spokesman said.

The man drove to the medical center at 10000 Bay Pines Blvd. about 5 p.m. Friday and walked into the lobby of the emergency room carrying a backpack, said Special Agent Dave Couvertier with the FBI.

The man said he had a bomb, and when police with the Department of Veterans Affairs confronted him, he brandished a knife and lunged at them, Couvertier said.

The officers shot and wounded him. He was treated in the hospital and died there from his injuries.

The man's identity will be released after next of kin are notified, Couvertier said.

Authorities would not comment on how many shots were fired.

Inside the backpack investigators found a suspicious object, Couvertier said, “a piece of PVC pipe, I guess, made to look like a bomb or explosive device.”

Authorities quickly determined “it was not an actual device. It was a hoax device.”
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Florida's Bay Pines VA center to be renamed after Bill Young

Just goes to show when it is important to them, they can move really fast.

Bay Pines VA center to be renamed after Bill Young
Tampa Bay 10 News
October 22, 2013

Bay Pines, Florida -- Congress is moving quickly to honor the late Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young by naming the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bay Pines after the long-term lawmaker, who was a champion for military troops and veterans.

Young, the longest-serving Republican House member, died Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington. He was 82 and had been hospitalized following back surgery.

The House could vote as early as Wednesday to rename the Pinellas County facility, known formally as the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, under legislation sponsored by House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Florida.

Florida's two senators -- Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio -- also have filed legislation to name the center after Young.
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Taming The Fire Within

At the Point Man Ministries tent during the reunion today, I was a handed a copy of this book to take a look at. After two paragraphs reading Greeks, Romans and first responders, I was hooked but the owner of the book wouldn't let me take it because it was signed by the author to him. This book is now on my list to review and this woman is now on my bucket list to interview.

I keep talking about the different types of PTSD and how they all need to be treated differently. Anne Freund not only works for the VA, she is a specialist in PTSD and worked with law enforcement with Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing! I have to meet her someday soon. WOW, she seems to be exactly what I have been talking about there needs to be more of.

"Taming the Fire Within: Life After War is a paperback book of approx. 260 pages with a color photograph on almost every page, from all different wars ranging from the Civil War to the present. The book is written for all generations of warriors in a down to earth, straightforward style. It discusses and explains the natural reactions virtually all war veterans experience after they return from the war zone. This book will be helpful not only for the veteran, but their family members as well.

Anne Freund, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been practicing since 1989. She graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and from the University of Florida with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Freund completed her internship at the VA in Bay Pines, FL.

She has been with the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2005. Prior to that she worked with law enforcement and first responders as part of a Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing Team. Dr. Freund began conducting PTSD support groups in 2005, shortly after arriving at the VA.

She has had specialized training in PTSD at the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, California and at the Center for Deployment Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr Freund is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress, European Society for Stress Studies, and the Association of VA Psychologist Leaders.

Bay Pines tends to male and female military sexual assault victims

Bay Pines VA program tackles military sex cases
By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 12, 2013

SEMINOLE
"Get in the jeep."

Joseph Sebastiano knew it would be bad.

A few days earlier, his sergeant had forced him to have sex in the barracks shower. Now, with the other men in the platoon done for the day, the sergeant told Sebastiano he had "extra duty." His voice drops to a near whisper as he describes what happened next.

More than three decades later, Sebastiano, 54, is finally coming to grips with the attacks in February 1976 at Fort Polk, La. Sitting in the safety of the Center for Sexual Trauma Studies at Bay Pines VA Hospital, Sebastiano talks about his experience as a victim of military sexual trauma and the residential treatment program helping exorcise his ghosts.

There are many like him. An estimated 19,000 troops were victims of rape and sexual assault in the military last year alone, according to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. The Air Force recently released the findings of a series of rapes by drill instructors at its training facility at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

And on Friday, military leaders spoke about the problem at a conference in Washington, D.C.

As the military struggles to cope with the problem among active-duty members, the Veterans Health Administration is facing challenges treating the estimated half-million veterans, like Sebastiano, who have experienced military sexual trauma.

A Veterans Affairs inspector general's report released last month found that the VA is not doing a good enough job connecting victims to programs like the one at Bay Pines, which was lauded in the report for providing training to other centers.
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Healing begins at new VA clinic in Cape Coral

Healing begins at new VA clinic in Cape Coral
Dec 16, 2012
News Press.com
Written by
Frank Gluck

If Bay Pines VA Healthcare System’s goal was to impress Southwest Florida’s veterans with its new outpatient clinic opening Monday in Cape Coral, well, mission so far accomplished.

Hundreds of veterans, their family members and local officials have offered rave reviews of the new $53.1 million facility during its several open houses this fall. Given that the new health center is three times the size, and much more modernly designed, than the closing clinic in Fort Myers, it’s not hard to see why.

But now the hard work of healing begins for the 200,000-plus Gulf Coast veterans the center will potentially serve — a group that is increasingly younger, more diverse and, for those newly returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, in need of the intensive mental health and medical care.
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Family sues Bay Pines VA after suicide with medications

Lawsuit: Bay Pines VA sends suicidal woman three months worth of pain pills
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: May 15, 2012

TAMPA — The Bay Pines VA Medical Center mailed a three-month supply of pain medication to a Treasure Island woman with a history of suicide threats who died after overdosing on the pills, a lawsuit filed this month says.

Linda Abrams Dresel, 56, an Army veteran who came to prominence in the 1990s as a supporter of anti-government causes, died May 9, 2009, at her home after she ingested the entire supply of pills, said the suit filed by her husband.

The former Indianapolis lawyer was better known by the name Linda Thompson, which she apparently discarded after her marriage to a Pinellas County man three years ago.

Her brother, Stephen Capps, said in an interview Tuesday that the pill bottle found after her death showed a physician's assistant at Bay Pines wrote the prescription. Capps said his sister had been committed to Bay Pines in Seminole six times under the Baker Act for suicidal threats in the month prior to her death.
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Montana veteran's best option for help was in Florida

Montana veteran's best option for help was in Florida

By CINDY UKEN
Posted: Sunday, March 4, 2012

Two days after his 17th birthday, Paul Schinker joined the U.S. Marine Corps, yearning for deployment as far away from his abusive and dysfunctional small-town Montana childhood home as possible.

He saw joining the Marine Corps in the mid-1970s as an opportunity to develop his identity as a man. While in boot camp he became squad leader and graduated in the top five of his 200-member group. He was stationed to Okinawa, more than 6,300 miles from home.

The once-wayward teen had everything he longed for: discipline, direction and distance. He earned the nickname "Smiley."

He would later wonder if he was "too jolly," and further questions whether his "gay" demeanor made him the target of a gang rape less than two weeks after landing in Okinawa.

As the 6-foot, 2-inch, 180-pound Schinker stepped out of the men's communal shower, about a dozen fellow Marines jumped him. The Marines, all in their 20s, pinned his arms and legs to the wet, cold floor and used the hose of a water-filled fire extinguisher to rape him.

All these years later, Schinker still breaks into quiet sobs as he relates the details. His wife, Jennie, reaches for his hand and there is a long silence.

"I died that day," he said. "I died that day. ... I was so scared. I can still remember how wet the floor was ... Of course they all just walked off laughing. I can give you more detail but that's enough."

His band of brothers had betrayed him.

He took time off work under the Family Medical Leave Act and, leaving his wife behind, traveled 2,300 miles to Bay Pines, Fla., to seek treatment in an acute psychiatric unit that specializes in MST. He was admitted from March through May 2011 and treated for both military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. It cost him $1,500 out of pocket for travel expenses.

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Florida VA hospitals use "Yacker Tracker" because healthcare is noisy

Tampa Bay VA hospitals pump down the volume

By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, February 6, 2012
Nurses might be talking up a storm outside a room. Doctors are paged. Intravenous alarms sound. Food carts rattle. Fingers pounding a computer keyboard echo like tiny jackhammers.

Jonathon Starkey, 47, said he has learned one thing about veterans hospitals through numerous operations for bad knees.

Health care is noisy.

But Tampa Bay's two veterans hospitals, the Bay Pines and James A. Haley medical centers, are testing devices that measure the decibel level on inpatient wards. Placed at nursing stations and looking like a red light signal, the device flashes red when the noise exceeds levels set by the hospital.

The device — so far, just three are installed, though more may follow — is called a "Yacker Tracker." And it can't come soon enough for Starkey, an Army veteran and Tampa resident.

"If you're sick or recovering from surgery, the thing you need more than anything is sleep," said Starkey, who has been treated at both Haley in Tampa and Bay Pines in Seminole. "But it can be as loud as a war zone. And it's annoying."

Department of Veterans Affairs officials say studies have repeatedly documented that noise can delay healing. One study noted a correlation between the increased use of painkillers and noisier hospital wards.
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VA directors received retention bonuses just before retiring?

Haley, Bay Pines VA directors received retention bonuses just before retiring

By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, August 29, 2011

TAMPA — The former directors of Tampa Bay's two veterans hospitals received a combined $65,000 in retention bonuses not because another hospital called with a better job.

They got them, oddly enough, because they were close to retirement.

A St. Petersburg Times review of retention bonuses paid to the directors of the Haley and Bay Pines VA medical centers calls into question whether the Department of Veterans Affairs ever determined that the men would have left their jobs without the extra money.

Both directors said they never asked for the money.

In fact, Bay Pines' former director, Wallace Hopkins, 64, said the bonuses did not delay his retirement at all.

"But the retention was nice to build up my savings account," said Hopkins, who worked at the VA for 40 years.

Hopkins, who retired April 1, and former Haley director Stephen Lucas continued to receive retention payments for three months or more after announcing their retirements, the VA confirmed. Lucas, 66, retired in March 2010.
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Bay Pines VA Doctor wins lawsuit against Times

Times Publishing hit with $10 million judgment in libel suit
By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 29, 2009



ST. PETERSBURG — The former chief of medicine at Bay Pines VA Medical Center prevailed Friday in a libel lawsuit against Times Publishing Co.

The jury found against the parent company of the St. Petersburg Times and awarded Dr. Harold L. Kennedy more than $10 million in damages.

"We are very disappointed by the verdict," said Times Executive Editor and Vice President Neil Brown. "We believe our reporting and editing of these stories met the highest journalistic and ethical standards.

"The Times will appeal the jury's decision.''

The lawsuit was filed over three articles that appeared in the Times in December 2003 about Kennedy's reassignment from chief of medicine to his subspecialty of cardiology. Kennedy filed suit in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court in 2005.
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Times Publishing hit with 10 million judgment in libel suit