PTSD program move, "sly attempt to leave the Waco VA"

VA plans to move popular Waco PTSD program despite loud opposition
American Statesman
Jeremy Schwartz
April 27, 2018

One veteran, who recently went through an inpatient treatment program at the domiciliary, called the proposed move a bad idea. “There are a ton of different people in the dom for a ton of different reasons,” said the veteran, who requested anonymity because he is still enrolled in the Waco PTSD program. “That type of environment is not conducive to what the Waco program is doing. The environment here is quiet. You’ve got all these different options to ground yourself.”

Nurse Reginia Salisbery, right, checks on a resident at the Women’s Trauma Recovery Center at the domiciliary at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care Center in Temple on Monday. JAY JANNER / AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Highlights
VA plans to move PTSD program from Waco to its domiciliary in Temple, which has a checkered history.

The relocation would allow the VA to move a women’s military sexual trauma program out of the domiciliary.

In 2012, VA reviewed allegations of drug use, prostitution, gang activity and gambling at the Temple facility.

Despite outcry from lawmakers and veterans groups, the Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing forward on a controversial plan to move a highly regarded residential post-traumatic stress disorder program from its Waco campus to the VA’s Temple campus.

A similar plan was shut down two years ago in the face of congressional opposition, and U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, a Republican who represents the Waco area, has vowed to stop the change this time too, potentially by blocking funding for the move.

Local VA leaders say the move will save taxpayers $1.5 million per year by enrolling patients into inpatient substance abuse treatment alongside their PTSD therapy, reducing relapses and the need for future treatment.

But the proposed new location for the residential program has set off alarm bells among advocates. VA leaders are seeking to fold the PTSD program into the VA’s domiciliary on its Temple campus, a facility with a difficult history. The domiciliary, part of a network of similar facilities established across the country over a century ago, is home to a mix of at-risk populations, including chronically homeless veterans, veterans trying to quit drugs and veterans undergoing court-ordered therapy.

In a recent editorial in the Waco Tribune-Herald, Hernandez called the planned move part of “the federal bureaucracy’s sly attempt to leave the Waco VA campus vulnerable to closure if discussions of underperforming VA campus closures begin again, just as we witnessed some 15 years ago.”
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Standoff on 1-35 With Texas Veteran Ends With Help

I-35 closed during 2-hour standoff with veteran on freeway 
WacoTrib.com
By OLIVIA MESSER
April 4, 2015

It was then that the man told officers he was trying to get to the Veterans Administration hospital in Temple when he ran out of gasoline.

Police confirmed he was a veteran and took him to the hospital. Investigators were waiting Saturday afternoon to talk to doctors and decide whether to file charges, Dickson said.

Lorena police and supporting agencies safely ended a two-hour standoff with a veteran threatening to harm himself on Interstate 35 near the Rosenthal Road exit Saturday morning.

Both north- and southbound lanes of the highway as well as the access roads were closed by the Texas Department of Transportation until the man surrendered about 10:45 a.m.

Traffic was detoured around the area for approximately two hours.
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PTSD Vietnam vet living in shed waiting for VA Claim

Army veteran, living in a shed, waits for help from the VA
Waco Tribune Herald - Waco,TX,USA

By Regina Dennis Tribune-Herald staff writer

Monday, June 08, 2009

Jerry Pole would like to take a warm bath, lay in a comfortable bed and eat a hot meal cooked on a stove.

His current living quarters do not allow for such conveniences. The 57-year-old Army veteran has been living for the past two years in a rented storage shed on an acre of land his girlfriend owns on the outskirts of Bellmead.

Pole is unable to work and takes 13 medications to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and a nervous condition he said was caused by his Army service, which includes a year in Vietnam.

There’s no room for a kitchen or bathroom in the shed, or even space for a refrigerator. A used love seat serves as his bed and takes most of the space.

Pole bathes in a tub behind the shed, using cold water from a hose hooked up to a utility line on the property. The same hose is used to rinse dishes in a makeshift sink in the front yard. Near the “sink,” Pole dug a pit in the front yard and placed a wire grate over the opening, creating a grill to cook food.

“It’s not the best condition to be in, but I’m still thankful for what I do have,” Pole said. “I know it could be a lot worse. I could be living under a bridge with no shelter at all.”

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VFW reports 4 VA offices involved in document shredding

VA claims found in piles to be shredded

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 16, 2008 16:35:50 EDT

Department of Veterans Affairs regional offices have been ordered to immediately stop shredding documents after an investigation found some benefits claims and supporting documents among piles of papers waiting to be destroyed.

Claims often include personal records supplied by veterans that are not duplicated in government files and might be difficult to replace, such as certificates for births, deaths and marriage.

In a statement, VA Secretary James Peake said only a handful of documents were found among piles of documents set aside to be shredded. But he is not pleased.

“I insist on the highest possible standards for processing and safeguarding information in VA’s custody,” Peake said. “It is unacceptable that documents important to a veteran’s claim for benefits should be misplaced or destroyed.”

Peake said three of VA’s 57 regional offices were involved, without naming them. Veterans of Foreign Wars said they were told four regional offices — in Detroit, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Waco, Texas — were identified as having documents in shredding bins that should not have been there.

VFW National Commander Glen Gardner said the problem could be significant.

“The VA inspector general conducted a routine investigation of Detroit’s mailroom and discovered five documents in the shredder bin, then three pieces are found in St. Louis, two in Waco, and some more in St. Petersburg,” he said. “The question that begs to be asked and answered is how many veterans had their disability and compensation claims disappear down a paper shredder?”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_va_stopshredding_101608w/