May 2008

Message from the Acting Network Director

Since May 1868, when the tradition of honoring the graves of fallen soldiers was established, we have been observing Memorial Day. On May 26, 2008 we will again recognize those service members who have sacrificed their lives for their country. We express our debt of gratitude for these fallen heroes as well as all the brave men and women who served in the armed services.  With the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this Memorial Day brings renewed meaning of the importance of paying tribute to the Americans who have died in military service.  To honor its commitment to veterans, our Network continues to demonstrate its gratitude through high quality services provided by our employees.

I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage each of you to complete the 2008 VHA All Employee Survey. The Survey period began on April 21, 2008, and continues through May 15, 2008. This survey is part of an ongoing effort to assess employee satisfaction, to eliminate barriers to employee effectiveness, and to make VHA an employer of choice. Completing the survey is entirely voluntary and information will be treated confidentially. Results will be summarized and reported so that no identifiable, individual responses will be reported or revealed.

Feedback derived from this survey will be used as part of our ongoing commitment to the employees of VA New England.  Ensuring staff well-being, satisfaction and motivation can help to ensure that the satisfaction levels of veterans that we serve continues to be high.

I value the views of the employees of this Network – you can have an impact by voicing your opinion.  Thank you for your contribution to this important effort.

Sincerely,

Tammy A. Follensbee
Acting Network Director

The Power of Performance
Strive for Excellence

Under Secretary for Health Michael J. Kussman, MD, is challenging VHA employees to establish excellence as a “prevailing attitude” in VHA.  Dr. Kussman has outlined this challenge in four easy to remember goals.  These four goals, or priorities, are part of an awareness campaign titled, “Power of Performance.” They include:

1. Put Patient Care First
2. Practice Progressive Leadership
3. Promote Improved Business Processes
4. Produce Meaningful Performance Measures

Each VA employee holds the power to make a difference.  Putting the Power of Performance into action provides a way to make a difference in how employees achieve excellence in their role.

Champions' Challenge Winners Announced
100 Miles in 100 Days

 
The Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) and the VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP) has announced the winners of the HealthierUS Veterans 100 mile Champions' Challenge.  Of the 35,000 veterans, caregivers and staff who registered to participate, nearly 3000 participants completed 100 miles.

A national prize drawing for the "100 mile completers" was held on March 26, 2008 in VCS Central Office.  Over 240 prizes with a value of more than $12,000 were awarded.  Congratulations to prize winners in VA New England:  

VISN 1 Volunteer Selected as VA Volunteer of the Year

Joseph C. Kelley, volunteer, VA Boston Healthcare System Brockton Campus, received the 2008 VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) Volunteer of the Year Award at the 62nd Annual VAVS National Advisory Committee Meeting, held in Orlando, Fla., in April.  Mr. Kelley has over 8,000 hours of VA service as a Veterans of Foreign Wars volunteer.  Also a member of the American Legion and Vietnam Veterans Association, he serves as editor of the VA Boston HCS "Volunteering the News" newsletter sent out to local and national VAVS organizations.  He has volunteered as a patient escort, bedside visitor, and clerical assistant. 

Pictured at the awards ceremony are (front row) Laura Balun, director, Voluntary Service Program Office, VA Central Office; and Joseph Kelley, volunteer, VA Boston; (back row) David Rabius, Executive Committee chairman, VAVS National Advisory Committee; Ralph Marche, chief of voluntary service, VA Boston; Ev Chasen, chief communications officer, VA Central Office.

VA Exercise DVD Posted on YouTube

As part of its ongoing HealthierUS Veterans campaign to get veterans to become more physically fit, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has posted a video clip from its “Get Fit for Life” exercise DVD on the YouTube Web site.  The YouTube segment can be seen by individuals who conduct searches using the key words veterans, health, fitness, obesity or diabetes. 

The complete DVD features exercise segments that veterans can use as part of their workout, along with exercise tips, myths and facts about exercise and healthier living.  The DVD features key exercise principles called FITT, which stands for:

1. Frequency: the goal is physical activity on five or more days a week.
2. Intensity:  the goal is to work hard enough so that the activity results in a light sweat or breathing a little harder than normal.
3. Time: the goal is aerobic activities for 30 minutes per day, which can be broken down into three 10-minute segments.
4. Type: the goal is to learn more about how to properly conduct activities such as aerobics, strength, balance and stretching.

Veterans can obtain copies of the DVD at VA medical facilities from MOVE! coordinators and points of contact for HealthierUS Veterans.  

GRECC Research
 Researchers Use Light to Detect Alzheimer's

One of the greatest challenges for Alzheimer’s research is to find ways to detect the disease before it is noticeable in a person’s memory or behavior.  By the time symptoms are obvious, there is already extensive damage to the brain cells.  In ground-breaking work, researchers at the New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) have developed a way to examine brain tissue using near-infrared light to detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease.  Near-infrared light has the advantage of being able to safely penetrate the skull and pass harmlessly through the brain.  Inside the head, some of the near-infrared light scatters, however, and how the light scatters can tell researchers about the condition of the brain.

 "We're primarily interested in finding a way of diagnosing and monitoring Alzheimer's disease during life," said VA Research Scientist Eugene Hanlon in a recent press release reported in over 50 national newspapers and medical websites.  Currently, there is no definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease - at least not while someone is alive.  After someone with Alzheimer's dies, doctors can perform an autopsy and examine the brain under the microscope.  Techniques like MRI are not sufficient to detect these microscopic changes because MRI cannot detect changes that are happening to the individual brain cells.

In the current study, the research team examined tissue samples taken from different autopsies and correctly identified which samples came from people who had Alzheimer's disease.  The technique is now being tested for its effectiveness at diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in living people.  Accurate, early detection of Alzheimer's could save many lives.  While there is no cure for the disease, clinically proven treatments can slow its progress - especially if they are administered early on.

This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Science Foundation, and a New Concept Award from the Center for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology.  The technique was developed by Dr. Hanlon and his collaborators at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston University Paper: "Scattering Differentiates Alzheimer Disease In Vitro," by Eugene B. Hanlon et al., Optics Letters, Vol. 33, No. 6, March 15, pp. 624-26, abstract at http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ol-33-6-624.

News Around the Network

Bedford VAMC - On April 29, Bedford VAMC held the annual EEO sponsored Employee Health and Wellness Fair 2008.  The fair promotes employees' holistic health, which includes programs for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.  Acupuncture, Derma Skin Analysis, Reiki, Blood Pressures and Pulmonary Function tests were also provided for employees. 

VA Boston HCS - During the month of April, VA Boston HCS had a number of site visits including the National Health Physics Program, Office of Research Oversight, Office of Management and Budget, and Quadramed.

VA Connecticut HCS - On April10, Roger Johnson, director, VA Connecticut HCS, attended the “Leave No Veterans Behind: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans in Connecticut,” forum in Hartford.  The event was sponsored by the Connecticut Finance Authority and the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.  Dr. Robert Rosenheck, director of VA’s Northeast Program Evaluation Center located at the VA Connecticut HCS West Haven campus, was one of the keynote speakers.

Manchester VAMC - On April 11, Manchester VAMC conducted a VISN-sponsored Pandemic Flu Tabletop Exercise at an offsite location.  The event was designed with a focus on educating, practicing, and enhancing the facilities ability to respond effectively and efficiently both internally, and externally with local and regional parties.  Community participants included representatives from the Manchester Health Department, the New Hampshire Hospital Association, the New Hampshire State Epidemiologist, the area Department of Homeland Security Emergency Manager, the City of Manchester Fire Chief, and area hospitals.

Northampton VAMC - On April 15, Ralph Shalda, deputy director, Veterans Canteen Service, VA Central Office, and Dennis Arena, Regional VCS manager, visited Northampton VAMC Canteen and facility.

Providence VAMC - On April 10, a staff writer for the Providence Journal visited Providence VAMC to do a story on “Wii-Habilitation.”  Nintendo Wii is a video game device that combines conventional video games with new technology, which allows the user to use their own movements to control the characters real time, providing instant feedback and reinforcement.  Therapeutic benefits include self-esteem, socialization, range of motion, strength, endurance, motor control, and cognitive deficits.  The article, "Playing Games in the Pursuit of Recovery," appeared in the Providence Sunday Journal on April 13.   

Togus VAMC - On April 10, Togus VAMC Director Brian Stiller attended the Commanders Call meeting hosted by Governor John Baldacci.   Attendees include the top level representatives of all state/national Veterans Service Organizations as well as all four Maine Congressional delegations.  Mr. Stiller briefed the attendees on current and future Togus operations.

White River Junction VAMC - On April 1, Rebecca Robinson, therapist and military sexual trauma coordinator, White River Junction VAMC, provided education and training for Clinical Pastoral Education students and interested chaplains about military sexual trauma.  The program included a discussion of concerns and responses for male and female veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma. 

Congratulations

Sean Carrier, scheduling clerk, Manchester VAMC, was interviewed by a reporter from the Manchester, N.H., Union Leader.  Mr. Carrier, an OEF/OIF veteran, talked about his experiences in Iraq, readjustment and success in adapting to civilian life, and the satisfaction he experiences from being able to assist other veterans at Manchester VAMC.  The front page feature story, titled “Life after Iraq,” appeared in the New Hampshire Sunday News on April 13.

Jessica Forti, physician assistant, Neurosurgery/Urology, Togus VAMC, was appointed as the Director At-Large of the VA Physician Assistants Association.

Nancy Freeman, MD, chief of hematology/ oncology, Providence VAMC, and clinical associate professor of medicine at Alpert Medical School of Brown University, was chosen to receive a prestigious Beckwith Family Teaching Award from the Department of Medicine.  The award will be presented at The Rhode Island Hospital on May 6.

Steven Hurd, chief of Voluntary Service, Togus VAMC, was honored with the VA Voluntary Service Award for Excellence.

Michael M. Lawson, director, VA Boston Healthcare System, is the recipient of the 2008 Secretary’s Award for the Advancement of Nursing Programs.  Mr. Lawson will receive the award on May 12 in VA Central Office. 

Paul Lyman, RPh, pharmacist, Bedford VAMC, was selected by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences as the Institutional Preceptor of the Year.  Mr. Lyman will participate in the School of Pharmacy Hooding and Convocation Ceremony on May 15, 2008.

Manchester VAMC Pharmacy Service - The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services has selected Manchester VAMC Pharmacy to receive its 5th annual President’s Community Partner Award.  This award is for a “non-profit organization that has enhanced the quality of life in the community in meaningful and measurable ways and engaged in the development of sustained, reciprocal partnerships with the college.”  Approximately 11 pharmacy students per year have completed advanced clinical clerkship rotation at Manchester VAMC with two-thirds of all students being from the college.    

Peter D. Mills, PhD, MS, associate director, VISN 1 Patient Safety Center, White River Junction VAMC, had his publication “Inpatient Suicide and Suicide Attempts in Veterans Affairs Hospitals” accepted by the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.  The article will be published in the June 2008 edition.

Kathy Neill, LICSW, social worker, Warwick, R.I., Vet Center, moderated a workshop for Rhode Island Family Court staff on issues facing OEF/OIF veterans and their families.  Workshops also were held for the Rhode Island Judiciary and on May 9 training will be held for the Rhode Island Bar Association.  The goal is to sensitize and educate the legal system to the special needs of returning veterans and their families and provide referral options within VA and the community.

Terrie Raposo MSW, LICSW, OEF/OIF program manager, Manchester VAMC, was a guest on the New Hampshire Public Radio program, “The Exchange,” on April 11.  Ms. Raposo discussed “Granite Staters Coming Home from War.”  Other guests included a counselor from the Manchester Vet Center and three OEF/OIF veterans.

Shakti Sabharwal, MD, primary care, VA Boston HCS, has been honored by the Massachusetts Medical Society as the 2008 recipient of its Special Award for Excellence in Medical Service.  The award, to be presented May 8 at the Society's annual meeting, honors a physician who has provided exceptional care and dedication to the medical needs of patients and the general public. 

Paula Schnurr, PhD, deputy executive director, National Center for PTSD, is a recipient of the 2008 Ladies Home Journal Health Breakthrough Award for her work with PTSD and women.  Dr. Schnurr’s study, “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial” was published in the February 2007 Journal of the American Medical Association.  She will be featured in the August 2008 issue of the magazine.

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