The Next PACT Act Deadline: Health Care Enrollment for Pennsylvania Veterans who deployed to Combat Zones On 8 September 2023, the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center released a press release stating, “Until 11:59pm local time on September 30, 2023, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, never enrolled in VA health Read more…
Extension will ensure that no Veteran or survivor will miss out on a single day of backdated PACT Act benefits Today, VA announced that Veterans and survivors who apply (or submit their intent to file) for PACT Act benefits by 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 will be eligible Read more…
Reed Walker, Community Engagement and Partnerships Coordinator (CEPC) from the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, explained to the council at its 19 July 2023 meeting that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is interested in creating a Suicide Prevention Coalition in the Lehigh Valley towards achieving its clinical healthcare priority: preventing veteran Read more…
Veterans have a higher rate of cancer than the general population due to toxic exposures, apparently. Therefore, when something comes along that expedites its detection, that is particularly newsworthy because it may save lives. Advances are slowly coming forth in the War on Cancer, first announced in the early 1970’s. Read more…
Any Veterans in Suicidal Crisis Can Go to Any Health Care Facility for Free Emergency Healthcare Taking a radically new approach to preventing suicide among veterans, starting January 17, any “veterans in acute suicidal crisis will be able to go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for emergency Read more…
There has been recent confusion in the local veterans community over receiving COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Part of it is due to the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center’s (VAMC) recent cancellation of scheduled appointments for the recommended, regular booster. That occurred because a new, bivalent versions from Pfizer and Moderna suddenly Read more…
Presented by Denise VanSickle, Head Trainer for Vet 2 Vet Service Dogs, Inc., on 21 September 2022 at its council meeting. The nonprofit is very new and a needed addition to the council’s network of service organizations. It was created out of an personal observations on the need to work Read more…
Not to be confused with the real nationally observed National Freedom Day (the signing of the 13th Amendment) on 1 February, this Freedom Day, spawned by the efforts of a dentist in West Virginia and originally meant for military personnel, leads to good deeds that serve a worthwhile purpose.
We have previously written about the VISN-4’s Health Chat program, an improvement on the previous longstanding, “night nurse” scheme that has existed for eon’s in the VA Healthcare system. What has not been written about is the investment our VISN-4 has made to get veterans to the “right care, right Read more…
