Texas Physician Volunteers Sleep on Clinic Floors to Care for Harvey Survivors

Mosquitoes, Medicine and Mold: Texas Battles Post-Harvey Health Issues
NBC News
by MAGGIE FOX
September 9, 2017

Zika mosquito 'heaven'

So far, there's no big epidemic to cope with. The Harris County Health Department had to squelch rumors that plague was being spread by flood waters. Plague is carried by fleas, not in water.

Dr. Luke LeBas works on a patient at Code 3 ER and Urgent Care in Rockport, Texas. For-profit and free clinics alike across southeast Texas are struggling to cope with a deluge of patients after Harvey's floods devastated communities. Danado Saltarelli, RN / Courtesy Dr. Luke LeBas

Dr. Carrie de Moor has a nasty cough, and she’s not sure if it's allergies or one of the common respiratory infections that have been spreading since Hurricane Harvey hit southeast Texas late last month.

She's been sleeping in a trailer adjacent to her free-standing emergency room and urgent care clinic in Rockport, Texas, which was devastated by Harvey’s winds and flood waters. The clinic had only been open for two weeks when Harvey hit. De Moor is home in Dallas now for a few days with her children but will soon head back to the clinic, which is overwhelmed by people crowding in for stitches, tetanus shots, ear infections and skin rashes.

"We were seeing numbers outpacing anything we were prepared to take care of," said de Moor, an ER physician who is CEO of Code 3 ER and Urgent Care.

Physician volunteers have been cramming into the trailer and sleeping on the clinic floors as they tend to as many as 90 patients a day.
read more here

Combat Wounded Army Veteran Faces Charges After Threats to VA

Texas Army veteran accused of threatening Veterans Administration

Associated Press

September 8, 2017

SAN ANTONIO (AP) A wounded retired soldier arrested by FBI agents in San Antonio is accused of threatening to kill Veterans Administration workers and posting online threats to blow up an agency building.

Federal prosecutors say Walter Steven Crosley, 44, told a VA nurse in June that he "may be the next guy that takes y'all out" and posted videos online threatening to destroy the VA facility in Kerrville.

Authorities say Crosley, from Lakehills, about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio, spent 13 years in the Army.

read more here

12 Texas Non-Profits Score $3.1 Million for Veterans

Texas Veterans Commission awards $3.1 Million to twelve non-profit organizations in S.A.

LA Prensa
Nathaly Cruz
September 7, 2017

On Wed. Sept. 6, twelve non-profit organizations were awarded a total of $3.1 million dollars in grant funding from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans’ Assistance at SAMMinistries’ Transitional Living and Learning Center, 5922 Blanco Rd.

The ceremony took place at SAMMinistries’ Transitional Living and Learning Center, 5922 Blanco Rd. SAMMinistries received $800,000 to help veterans stay in their homes through their home prevention program. (Photo, Nathaly Cruz)

The 12 non-profit organizations that received grant awards from the Texas Veterans Commission are, 

Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) – $300,000, 

American GI Forum – $300,000, 

Catholic Charities – San Antonio – $300,000, 

Operation Comfort – $200,000, 

Project MEND – $250,000, 

Salvation Army – San Antonio – $300,000, 

SAMMinistries – $300,000 (in a General Assistance grant) $500,000 (Veteran Homelessness Prevention programs), 

Southwest Area Regional Transit – $200,000, 

Operation Finally Home – $75,000, 

Bexar County – $200,000 , 

Comal County – $75,000 

Marriage Management Consultants – $100,000.

read more here

Sexual Predator Warning Ignored

Bad Santa: Navy's top admiral kept spokesman after boozy party, sexual predator warning
USA Today
Tom Vanden Brook
September 7, 2017

WASHINGTON — A Navy commander accused of sexual misconduct while dressed as Santa Claus at a boozy party inside the Pentagon was allowed to stay on as spokesman for the Navy’s top admiral despite written warnings that the commander was a sexual predator, USA TODAY has learned.

Cdr. Chris Servello, 41, was accused by fellow officers and a civilian of making unwanted sexual passes and slapping a woman on the buttocks while dressed as Santa at the 2016 office Christmas party for Navy public affairs officials, documents obtained by USA TODAY show.

Servello was not reassigned as spokesman for Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, until mid-August, just weeks after USA TODAY sought documents regarding the incidents and the investigation. Capt. Peter Hudson, who completed his initial inquiry on Dec. 21, made plain that Servello should be shipped out.

Servello, in a statement to USA TODAY, said that naval investigators did not recommend that criminal charges be issued against him. He added that his career will likely be killed by the incidents.

"I have cooperated fully with all investigations conducted by the Navy,” Servello said. “Ultimately, the allegations were unproven and charges were not filed. I should have never put myself into a situation where my judgment or my military bearing could be called into question. I deeply regret this and have been held to account for my decision making. Indeed, the overall effect of the administrative counseling makes it highly unlikely that my career will recover."
read more here

Afghanistan Veteran Gives Thumbs Up After Amputation

Veteran receives high-tech prosthetic hand

Department of Veterans Affairs

September 5, 2017

Veteran Daniel Glanz lost his right hand while serving in Afghanistan 12 years ago. Today, Glanz has a brand new prosthetic hand with world-class technology which gives him the ability to adjust hand functions on the fly in ways that were not possible in the past.

For the past 10 years, Glanz has been coming to McGuire VA Medical Center to receive the latest in prosthetic hand technology. This past spring, he was fitted for an iLimb Quantum prosthetic hand, which is programmable with a smartphone app and can change functions with a simple gesture.

The device can be programmed with up to four different hand settings at a time. Each setting is activated by the wearer gesturing with his arm to the left, right, forward or back.

read more here