The Cohen Veterans Network shutting down clinics?

Hedge Fund Billionaire Steve Cohen Is Spending Big to Help Veterans. Why Are People Angry?
Fortune
By ISAAC ARNSDORF
August 3, 2018

The story of the Cohen Network illustrates what could lie in store for veterans as Trump pursues his campaign pledge to place their care in the hands of the private sector.

The network’s original clinic, at New York University, got into a spat over who would own the patent rights from research that Cohen funded. And shortly after the hearing, Cohen mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to get the government to subsidize the clinics.

Steven Cohen on the trading floor at Point72 Asset
Management in 2016.
Gillian Laub

But at that same moment, across the country, the Cohen Network was closing its clinic in Los Angeles less than a year after it opened. The Cohen Network’s leaders had alienated the staff there, former employees said, by telling them to prioritize healthier patients over homeless veterans. The shutdown was so hasty that former therapists said it left some patients in the lurch.

This article is a collaboration between Fortune and ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization.

At a House hearing last year on post-traumatic stress disorder, a private organization showed up with an ambitious plan to help suffering veterans. The Cohen Veterans Network was opening a chain of free mental health clinics across the country, backed by $275 million from hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen.

By contrast to the high-profile scandals at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Cohen Network claimed 96% client satisfaction. In a statement for the hearing, the organization said its clinics “provide a desirable alternative” to the VA—a clear echo of President Trump’s campaign promise to let veterans skip the VA for “a private service provider of their own choice.”
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Fort Bragg Soldier died in training accident a month ago?

Soldier in secret unit dies in training accident
Yahoo News
SEAN D. NAYLOR
Aug 3rd 2018

WASHINGTON — A highly decorated soldier from the Army’s elite Delta Force died last month after a free-fall parachute training accident the military did not make public.

Master Sgt. Christopher Nelms, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), finishes a low craw under the “Worm Pit” at the Malvesti Obstacle Course in the Best Ranger Competition, April 13 at US Army Fort Benning. Photo by Patrick A. Albright.

Sgt. Maj. Christopher Nelms, 46, died July 1 from injuries sustained when his parachute failed to fully open during a June 27 jump at Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, N.C., about 40 miles southwest of Delta’s home post of Fort Bragg, N.C. “He was fighting it the whole way down,” said a former Delta Force officer familiar with the accident.

U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which exercises administrative control of Delta Force, did not announce Nelms’s death, but confirmed it when contacted by Yahoo News. “One service member died as a result of a free-fall training incident on June 27, 2018, in Laurinburg, N.C.,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, the command spokesman, in an email response to questions from Yahoo News. Nelms “received initial medical treatment for his injuries but unfortunately died at the hospital.”
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A message to VA’s workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie

A message to VA’s workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie

Hello, I’m Robert Wilkie and it is an overwhelming honor to serve along side you as Secretary.

There are two emotions today.

The first emotion is feeling very humbled. I was humbled by the honor of being a candidate for this job; I was even more humbled by the call to be your next Secretary.

The second dominant emotion is that of being very, very excited—thrilled! Thrilled to be part of this department.

I’m deeply grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to serve for him and for America’s Veterans. I am also grateful to the United States Senate for their vote of confidence.

First off, I want to thank you, the staff of the VA. Whether you are at a health care facility, on the Benefits team, serving at our cemeteries, or here as part of our staff at the headquarters. You may not hear enough, but I want you to hear it from me. Thank you for your tireless work and devotion to our Veterans… and thank you for all you do to help them and their families everyday.

When President Herbert Hoover signed the executive order in 1930 creating the Veterans Administration, he consolidated Veterans programs and created a new independent administration “for the relief of veterans.” Eighty eight years later, that is still our charge.

Serving our Veterans is a noble calling. We have a solemn responsibility to our Veterans – not just today, but in the months and years to come, to set the standard for the millions coming into our VA, and for the millions who will join the ranks down the years.

During my confirmation hearing, and in previous messages to you while serving as the Acting Secretary, I shared with you my philosophy – customer service.

Customer service must start with each other-not talking at each other but with each other across all office barriers and across all compartments. If we don’t listen to each other, we won’t be able to listen to our Veterans and their families…. and we won’t be able to provide the world class customer service they deserve.

Next, we must have a bottom up organization. The energy must flow from you who are closest to those we are sworn to serve.

It is from you that the ideas we carry to the Congress, the VSOs and to America’s Veterans will come. Anyone who sits in this chair and tells you he or she has the answers is in the wrong business.

I want to share a story with you from President Eisenhower.

Five months after his inauguration, about forty Korean War Veterans climbed aboard the presidential yacht Williamsburg—many were missing limbs, some were horribly disfigured. When Ike arrived at the pier, the Secret Service began running up the plank to separate the President from his troops. Before they reached the deck, Eisenhower yelled “Halt! I know these men.” The agents retreated, and the soldiers gathered around the President.

He said there was nothing the country could do for them that could compensate for what they had given to America. He then addressed them at attention, and those who could stand did, and said you will never put away your uniform, you are always on duty. “You must get well, to remind your countrymen everyday that freedom is never free.”

This is our VA. We are here to care for all of our nation’s heroes whose service and sacrifice inspires us all. That is our important and non-negotiable mission. The President and Congress support us, and I’m honored and excited to lead this organization.

I look forward to meeting you, listening to you and serving alongside you. I value your thoughts and insights as we improve our department for the challenges in the years ahead.

Thank you and God bless.

Lowe's K-9 Employee Charlotte passed away

Texas Vet's Service Dog Who Worked With Him at Lowe's Died
The Golden Retriever was a customer favorite at the store
By Holley Ford
August 3, 2018

Luthy recently posted on his Facebook page that his beloved companion had passed away.

A Texas veteran's service dog who gained fame when she was hired to work at Lowe's has died.

Greg Jaklewicz - Abilene Reporter-News

U.S. Air Force veteran Clay Luthy and his golden retriever, Charlotte, were hired by the home improvement store in Abilene in 2016.
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Original report from 2016

Unclaimed veterans moved from freezer to honor service

Strangers provide military sendoff to veterans unclaimed in death
Michigan Live
By Gus Burns
August 2, 2018

U.S. Airman Second Class Gerald Suttkus, 81, a Detroit native living in Harrison Township, died at home on May 1. He served in the Vietnam War from 1959 until 1965. He later worked as a shipping clerk for a manufacturing company.

Navy Seaman First Class Cyril Brown, 90, of Clinton Township, died Oct. 21, 2017 at Detroit Receiving Hospital. He served during World War II from June 1944 to June 1946.

Thomas Novak, 59, of Warren, died in an area hospital died on April 25. He served as a private first class in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1976.

Tanya Moutzalias
The Macomb County Council Ritual Team stands in honor of three unclaimed veterans, PV1 Thomas M. Novak (Peacetime), S1 Cyril L. Brown (WWII), A2C Gerald W. Suttkus (Vietnam War), Thursday morning at a memorial service at Harold W. Vick Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens, Aug. 2, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)

One survived World War II. Another made it out of Vietnam. The third served his country during peace time.

Most servicemen are sent off with gallant funerals in death, firing line salutes, a trumpet playing "Taps" and U.S. flag pageantry, but it wasn't looking like that would be the case for three Macomb County veterans who died over the last year.

Their bodies instead lay in morgue freezers.
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