Women's Distrust of VA Hard to Shed

Women's Distrust of VA Hard to Shed
November 22, 2010
Star Tribune
At the sprawling Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, the women's care center is tucked away in a corner of the fourth floor, accessible only through hallways filled with men. Until a recent remodeling, the exam rooms faced out into the hallways.

Even advocates for female veterans can find themselves anxious about making a visit. That was the case recently for Trista Matascastillo, one of the founders of the Minnesota Women Veterans Initiative Working Group.

A Navy veteran who joined before her 18th birthday, she recently went to the VA for an exam to determine compensation and pension benefits. While there, she said, she encountered a male OB/Gyn on contract who left the door open and complained about women "crying sexual harassment." Afterward, lost in the labyrinth of hallways, she sat down in a hallway and cried.

When her group, a diverse collection of women who have served in the military, met recently at the Minneapolis VA, she hesitated to go inside.

"Why would I tell someone to go back?" she asked.

Female vets are making less use of VA health services than their male counterparts, even though they face comparable health problems.


A 2007 study found that 15 percent of female veterans used VA health care services compared with 22 percent of male veterans, with the difference largely attributable to issues of accessibility. As recently as three years ago, only about a third of VA medical centers and clinics provided services specific to women.
read more here
Womens Distrust of VA Hard to Shed

Back home, female vets fight for recognition

Back home, female vets fight for recognition

By Natalie Bailey - Medill News Service
Posted : Tuesday Jul 13, 2010 13:58:07 EDT

With her copper hair, pale skin and small stature, Army Reserve Sgt. Jennifer Hunt, 26, stands out in the Veterans Affairs Department hospital waiting room filled with Vietnam War-era veterans.

She’s there for treatment of shrapnel injuries she received two years ago, after a roadside bomb hit her Humvee as she drove through West Rashid in Baghdad.

She said it’s not uncommon for her to be the only woman in the hospital waiting room, and to hear comments like, “You’re the prettiest vet I’ve seen all day.”

Although that brings unwanted attention, at least it shows the men take her for a veteran. Camouflaged by their gender both inside and outside VA hospital doors, women in the military are routinely mistaken for spouses and daughters — anything but combat veterans.

“It makes us feel invisible,” said Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Genevieve Chase, 32, founder of American Women Veterans. “It makes these women feel like their service didn’t matter.”
go here for more
Back home female vets fight for recognition

"Tea Party" protest at women veterans event?

In the words of one of them,,,this was just "too important to pass up." but when you think that taxes not only pay for war, they pay for the men and women we send as well, this is really sick. Too important for who? Some people to show up and say they don't care about anyone but themselves? Too important for the oblivious ignoring what this even was for? Unable to notice that the government is finally trying to take care of our veterans? This should prove once and for all that when it comes to politics, veterans are used as part of a game and it is disgraceful. They should have been paying attention to what has been happening to the veterans this even was about! Congratulations to the people who said they wouldn't protest this event. They not only showed due respect to the female veterans, they knew this was too important to the female veterans.

Tea party protesters picket Pittsburg women's veteran fair
By Doug Jastrow
Contra Costa Times

PITTSBURG — When three Democratic congressmen planned to lead an information fair to promote health and financial services for female veterans of the U.S. military, tea party organizers were presented with a problem: How do you endorse an event while at the same time protest its hosts?

The answer turned out to be a mixed message.

About a dozen protesters spent hours Saturday outside the event at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg holding signs both condemning the three congressmen and expressing support for female military veterans. Many who attended said they never noticed the small protest as they entered the event.

Once inside, attendees had the opportunity to speak with U.S. Reps. George Miller, Jerry McNerney and John Garamendi, all Democrats, about a wide variety of veteran issues. The fair also provided several workshops and vendor booths designed to assist female veterans as they transition to civilian life.

Jill Price, a tea party organizer, said it was difficult to rally support for a protest. She contacted more than 400 people on her mailing list but said, because of the nature of the event, enthusiasm was low. Price described her group as pro-military.

"I really don't mind standing alone," the Discovery Bay resident said, stating the chance to confront government officials who fail to properly represent the will of the people was too important to pass up.
go here for more
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15486489?source=rss

Standing up for female warriors

Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma, as always watching out for all veterans, sent this to me. As always, she is a true friend to veterans, ALL veterans and she wants them all to be treated for what they need, when they need it with no excuses. No wonder why I think she is just another hidden hero.

Even if you want to try to trivialize the role women have had during combat operations, you would really have to live in some kind of world all your own to not understand just how significant their duties were. This is just an idea of what they did during Vietnam alone.

Approximately 11,000 American military women were stationed in Vietnam during the war. Close to ninety percent were nurses in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Others served as physicians, physical therapists, personnel in the Medical Service Corps, air traffic controllers, communications specialists, intelligence officers, clerks and in other capacities in different branches of the armed services. Nearly all of them volunteered.

By 1967, most all military nurses who volunteered to go to Vietnam did so shortly after graduation. These women were the youngest group of medical personnel ever to serve in war time.

Because of the guerilla tactics of Vietnam, many women were in the midst of the conflict. There was no front, no such thing as "safe behind our lines." Many were wounded; most spent time in bunkers during attacks. The names of the eight military women who died in Vietnam are listed on the "Wall."

Medical personnel dealt with extraordinary injuries inflicted by enemy weapons specifically designed to mutilate and maim. During massive casualty situations, nurses often worked around the clock, conducted triage, assisted with emergency tracheotomies and amputations, debrided wounds and inserted chest tubes so surgeons could get to the next critical patient. Over 58,000 soldiers died in Vietnam; 350,000 were wounded.
read more here
http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/vwmf.php

Lieutenant Colonel Annie Ruth Graham,
Chief Nurse at 91st Evacuation Hospital, Tuy Hoa.
Colonel Graham, from Efland, NC, suffered a stroke in August 1968 and was evacuated to Japan where she died four days later. A veteran of both World War II and Korea, she was 52.

First Lieutenant Sharon Ann Lane
Lieutenant Lane died from shrapnel wounds when the 312th Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai was hit by rockets on June 8, 1969. From Canton, OH, she was a month short of her 26th birthday. She was posthumously awarded the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Bronze Star for Heroism. In 1970, the recovery room at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, where Lt. Lane had been assigned before going to Vietnam, was dedicated in her honor. In 1973, Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, where Lane had attended nursing school, erected a bronze statue of Lane. The names of 110 local servicemen killed in Vietnam are on the base of the statue.

Second Lieutenant Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba
Second Lieutenant Elizabeth Ann Jones
Lieutenant Drazba and Lieutenant Jones were assigned to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. They died in a helicopter crash near Saigon, February 18, 1966. Drazba was from Dunmore, PA., Jones from Allendale, SC. Both were 22 years old.

Captain Eleanor Grace Alexander
Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November 30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and Orlowski, stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent to a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their plane crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of Owensboro, KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars.

First Lieutenant Hedwig Diane Orlowski
Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November 30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and Orlowski, stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent to a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their plane crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of Owensboro, KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars.

Second Lieutenant Pamela Dorothy Donovan
Lieutenant Donovan, from Allston, MA, became seriously ill and died on July 8, 1968. She was assigned to the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon. She was 26 years old.

U.S. Air Force
Captain Mary Therese Klinker
Captain Klinker, a flight nurse assigned to Clark Air Base in the Philippines, was on the C-5A Galaxy which crashed on April 4 outside Saigon while evacuating Vietnamese orphans. This is known as the Operation Babylift crash. There are also US Air Force and Air Force Association web pages about Operation Babylift. From Lafayette, IN, she was 27. She was posthumously awarded the Airman's Medal for Heroism and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Keep in mind as important that work is, there is much more they have done and continue to do serving side by side with their brothers, especially when considering there are no safe zones in Iraq any more than there are safe zones in Afghanistan. In other words, their lives are on the line just as much as males risk their's but bullets and road side bombs are not all they have to worry about. Being sexually attacked by their "brothers" is yet one more trauma they face.

Army Spc. Alyssa R. Peterson, 27, died Sep 14 from what was described as a "non-combat weapons discharge."

Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, of Houston, Texas, was killed on Oct. 1 in Tikrit, Iraq. Pfc.Esparza Gutierrez was in a convoy that was hit by rocket propelled grenades.

Pfc. Rachel Bosveld, 19, was killed Sunday Oct 26th during a mortar attack in Baghdad. Pfc. Bosveld, a member of the 527th Military Police, is from Waupun, Wisconsin.

Pfc. Karina S. Lau, 20, Livingston, California ,was killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq.

Spc. Frances M. Vega,20, of Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. Vega assigned to the 151st Adjutant General Postal Detachment 3, Fort Hood, Texas, was killed in the helicopter crash.

Chief Warrant Officer (CW5) Sharon T. Swartworth , 43, of Virginia was killed when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was shot down Nov. 7, 2003, in Tikrit, Iraq. CWO Swartworth was the regimental warrant officer for the Judge Advocate General Office, based at Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon.

Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, of Easley, S.C., was killed on Jan. 2, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq. Capt. Hampton, was the pilot on a Kiowa, OH-58, Observation Helicopter when it was shot down by enemy ground fire and crashed. She was assigned to 1st Battalion, 82nd Aviation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Sgt. Keicia M. Hines, 27, of Citrus Heights, Calif., died on Jan. 14 when she was struck by a vehicle on Mosul Airfield in Mosul, Iraq. Hines was assigned to the 108th Military Police, Combat Support Co., Fort Bragg, N.C.

SPC Rachel Lacy, 22, died in 2003 after receiving a series of shots in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. She became ill right after the inoculations, Two independent panels of medical experts found that the vaccinations may have triggered the illness that killed Spc. Rachel Lacy the Defense Department said.

Helicopter crew chief instructor Staff Sgt. Lori Anne Privette, 27 died when a UH-1N Huey helicopter crashed during a training flight. SSgt. Privette joined the Marine Corps in August 1994 and just returned from serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
you can read a lot more of these stories here

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/lives.html

As you can see, as important as it is for them to be taking care of the medical needs, they also risk their lives. Had this been the other way around, do you think a male would ever put up with having to have a prostrate exam in the middle of a maternity ward? Believe it or not, some women have gone to the VA and then end up being told they have to have a prostrate exam because it's on the list of tests to do. Never mind having to have a gynecological exam with no privacy at all. We also have homeless female veterans but along with too many of them come children the veterans shelters, even when they do manage to set aside beds for females, can't take in children with them. They have to go to the regular shelters instead of being given what they need to get back on their feet.

So here is what you may have thought was a rant from a female veteran but now maybe you understand how wrong it is for them to come home and receive less.

Standing up for female warriors
By Angela Peacock Posted: Sunday, May 9, 2010

I read your April 11 article, “A path to inner peace,” about the Pathway Home in Yountville with interest.

I am an Iraq veteran from 2003 and served with the Army’s First Armored Division, in Baghdad, Iraq, right after the war began. I was later diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from numerous incidents that occurred in theater. In fact, I served in the same area, during the same time period, as one of the soldiers quoted in the story. If you’ve ever seen the documentary “Lioness,” you can see that many women served in combat areas and were exposed to the same dangers that our male veterans face.

I took an interest in the Pathway Home as a possible residential treatment program that I could attend as an option for my combat-induced PTSD. After sending them an e-mail as to my interest in their program, this was their response:

“We are actually still trying to find funding for a women’s program. We are aware of the great need for this type of program and are working diligently to make it happen. When we do start the program though, it will be advertised at the VA, Vet Centers, military installations, and on our website.”

The response disappointed me greatly. I then looked for another residential program with a combat PTSD focus for women veterans, with no luck. Instead I had to drive 2,100 miles from St. Louis, Mo., to Long Beach, Calif., to attend an Military Sexual Trauma-focused program at the VA to treat my PTSD. (Where, I might add, we were housed with male veterans at a homeless shelter. Almost all the women in the program relapsed into addiction while we were there because of that stressor. I was only able to stay strong because of my years of yoga and meditation before ever going.)
read more here
Standing up for female warriors

The Voice, Women at War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Click to Play View Details

the rest of my videos are on the side bar

VA reaches out to female vets

VA reaches out to female vets
By Michael O’Connor
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

When Amber Burns walks into the Veterans Affairs health clinic in Lincoln, she’s often the only female veteran in the place.

That probably will be changing.

Women make up one of the fastest-growing groups of veterans, a trend bringing changes to the VA health system in Nebraska, Iowa and the rest of the nation.

Members of the VA medical staff in Nebraska and western Iowa are receiving refresher training on gynecological exams, proper nutrition during pregnancy, cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment, and other medical care that women need.
read more here
VA reaches out to female vets

Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance

Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance
By KIMBERLY HEFLING (AP)

WASHINGTON — Nobody wants to buy them a beer.

Even near military bases, female veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't often offered a drink on the house as a welcome home.

More than 230,000 American women have fought in those recent wars and at least 120 have died doing so, yet the public still doesn't completely understand their contributions on the modern battlefield.

For some, it's a lonely transition as they struggle to find their place.

Aimee Sherrod, an Air Force veteran who did three war tours, said years went by when she didn't tell people she was a veteran. After facing sexual harassment during two tours and mortar attacks in Iraq, the 29-year-old mother of two from Bells, Tenn., was medically discharged in 2005 with post-traumatic stress disorder.

She's haunted by nightmares and wakes up some nights thinking she's under attack. She's moody as a result of PTSD and can't function enough to work or attend college. Like some other veterans, she felt she improperly received a low disability rating by the Department of Veterans Affairs that left her with a token monthly payment. She was frustrated that her paperwork mentioned she was pregnant, a factor she thought was irrelevant.

"I just gave up on it and I didn't tell anyone about ever being in the military because I was so ashamed over everything," Sherrod said.
read more here
Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance

Lone senator holds up veterans bill

UPDATE
Coburn named as senator holding up vets bill

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 3, 2009 17:23:29 EST

Thirteen major military and veterans groups have joined forces to try to force one senator — Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma — to release a hold that he has placed on a major veterans benefits bill.

Coburn has been identified by Senate aides as the lawmaker preventing consideration of S 1963, the Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by using an informal but legal practice of putting a hold on a bill.

Coburn’s staff did not respond to questions, but Senate aides said the first-term senator has expressed concern about creating new and unfunded benefits and wants the opportunity to amend the measure.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_veteransbill_coburnhold_110309w/

Lone senator holds up veterans bill

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 2, 2009 17:01:59 EST

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is trying to bring pressure on the Senate to ignore tradition and bring a veterans health care bill up for debate despite the anonymous hold on the bill placed by a senator.

The bill in question is S 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, which includes three top priorities of the veterans group.

It contains a package of improvements for female veterans, including more training for mental health providers in treating sexual trauma, a pilot program to offer child care so that veterans who have children find it easier make appointments, and a trial counseling program in which newly separated female veterans would be treated in retreat-like settings.

It also would expand mental health programs for veterans in rural areas by contracting with local community mental health centers, and expand mental health services for the immediate families of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_veteransbill_delayed_110209w/

Supporting the troops means taking care of veterans too

While Taylor Texas can put out something like this,,,,,,

Adopt A Unit at Fort Hood Project

The City of Taylor and the City of Hutto adopted the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade Battalion 1/4 Avn at Fort Hood. These two cities agreed to support the Central Texas Fort Hood Chapter Association of the United States Army (AUSA) and it's "Adopt a Unit" Program during their deployment to Iran in 2008/2009.The troops returned home from their most recent deployment to Iran in June, 2009 and were welcomed home with a special event sponsored by both cities at the Old Settlers Association facility in Round Rock on June 27. For more information on the program contact Jean Johnson at 352-5448 or the Taylor Chamber of Commerce at 365-8485.
Visit the website at http://www.forthoodausa.org/ for additional details on these programs and how you can adopt a unit of your own.
Letter from Lt. Col. Brian Bennett, July 15, 2008.
Letter of appreciation from Major General Hammond, July, 2009.
Contact Information
Taylor Chamber of Commerce
1519 N. Main StreetTaylor, TX 76574
512-365-8485

it also looks like they do not take it to heart when it comes to taking care of veterans as well.

Veterans for Common Sense Fights Discrimination Against Veterans in Taylor Texas
Written by Claire Osborn
Saturday, 10 October 2009 22:35
Taylor residents oppose proposed veterans center in their neighborhood

October 11, 2009, Taylor, Texas (Austin American-Statesman) — A California company wants to convert an empty facility formerly used as nursing home into a trauma assistance center for as many as 88 female veterans, including those who have been sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers.

But some Taylor residents say they don't want the facility in their town.

"It would put veterans in a situation where they are going to a town that doesn't want them," said Cherri Wolbrueck, co-owner of a Taylor bookstore. She talked about her opposition after attending a zoning board meeting where representatives of the company — Center Point Inc., based in San Rafael, Calif. — spoke.

Wolbrueck lives across the street from the proposed facility where veterans would live. She said she fears that veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder might attack residents in the Buttermilk Hill neighborhood.

"They can have an episode where a flashback transports them back into a combat situation, and they can perceive anyone as a threat: an elderly person taking a walk around the neighborhood, or a child on a bike," she said.

Laura Lambe, the executive vice president of Texas Center Point Inc., which would operate the facility and is a subsidiary of the California company, said the veterans who would be served at the facility would not be a danger to the community.

"We are not dealing with people who are threatening," Lambe said.

"We have a moral obligation to help veterans," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, an advocacy group based in Washington. "Veterans are the kind of neighbors we want, and it's safe to be around them."

click link for more

Not wanted in an American neighborhood? Really? This must mean as long as they are risking their lives some place else, they are welcome, but when they dare to come home needing help, they are no longer welcome. This is a town in dire need of an education on what war does and what kind of people the troops are. They risked their lives for the same people that do not want them in their neighborhoods!

Privacy deemed lacking for female veterans at some VA hospitals

Privacy deemed lacking at some VA hospitals

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 12:52:04 EDT

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs Department hospitals and clinics aren't always making sure women veterans have privacy when they bathe and receive exams, government auditors said Tuesday.

As thousands of women veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan and enter the VA's health system, the Government Accountability Office reported that no VA hospital or outpatient clinic under review is complying fully with federal privacy requirements.

GAO investigators found that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door — including one door that opened to a waiting room. It also found instances where women had to walk through a waiting area to use the restroom, instead of it being next to an exam room as required by VA policy.
read more here
Privacy deemed lacking at some VA hospitals

Enhancing care for women Veterans is one of Secretary Shinseki's top priorities

VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans Visits Dallas

WASHINGTON, July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) upgrade of programs and services for women Veterans, the Department's Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, an expert panel that advises VA on issues and programs affecting women Veterans, recently traveled to the VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas.


"Enhancing care for women Veterans is one of Secretary Shinseki's top priorities," said Dr. Irene Trowell-Harris, director of VA's Center for Women Veterans. "Our Dallas meeting helped us develop new and innovative ideas for providing a full spectrum of improved care for women Veterans."


Intent on improving VA programs and services for women Veterans, the advisory committee heard views on facets of physical and mental health care, benefits, access, processing military sexual trauma claims, women-specific health needs, and services for returning troops. In addition, Carl E. Lowe II, director of VA's Waco Regional Office, gave an overview of new benefits programs.


Members also had the opportunity to tour the Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, the Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center and the State Veterans Home in Bonham. The visit concluded with a town hall meeting at the Dallas Hilton Anatole that was open to the community.


VA accomplishments for women Veterans already in place include:

More than $32.5 million in Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental funding was sent to facilities for women's health equipment, training and supplies (including DEXA scans, mammography machines, ultra-sound and biopsy equipment).
Women Veterans' program managers, advocates and advisors for women Veterans were made full-time positions at every VA facility, as of Dec. 1, 2008, to improve women Veterans' access, to coordinate necessary services and to assist in planning for comprehensive primary care at each VA facility.

Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the Veteran population. There are approximately 1.8 million women Veterans. They comprise 7.5 percent of the total Veteran population and nearly 5.5 percent of all Veterans who use VA health care services.


VA estimates women Veterans will constitute 10 percent of the Veteran population by 2020.


The Advisory Committee on Women Veterans reviews VA's programs, activities, research projects and other initiatives designed to meet the needs of women Veterans, then makes recommendations to the Secretary on ways to improve, modify and affect change in programs and services for women.





SOURCE U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs