WASHINGTON — Only a few weeks after members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs expressed skepticism about testimony that the problem-plagued Miami VA Medical Center (VAMC) is now running smoothly, the facility’s director was removed from her position.

WASHINGTON — Veterans with mental illness and substance abuse cost nearly three times as much to treat as the average veteran. According to a VA-commissioned study by the RAND Corp. looking at data from one year of care (2007), such veterans represented 15% of patients using VA healthcare services, but accounted for 32.9% of costs.

WASHINGTON — Efforts to prevent suicides among servicemembers are not working, according to a new report that warns that the problem is likely to get much worse as more troops return from deployment.

WASHINGTON--With more than 3,000 servicemembers reporting military sexual assault (MST) just last year and with potentially nine times that many cases unreported during that time period, according to DoD, a lot of victims require VA mental-health services.

WASHINGTON — When he took office, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki declared he would do his best to eradicate homelessness in the veteran population. He also noted that one of the biggest challenges is successfully reaching out and locating veterans who are homeless or on the verge of homelessness.

PHOENIX — Extremely lax oversight of the use of outside care was blamed for a budget crisis at the Phoenix VA Healthcare System, according to a recently-released report from the VA Inspector General.

Alarmed by a near tripling of the number of veterans developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during the past five years, VA has strengthened its programs for the prevention, screening and treatment of veterans with hepatitis C (HCV), which is a major risk for developing the cancer. VA also is revamping practice guidelines for the use of promising new drugs.

WASHINGTON — While there is evidence that cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) has a positive impact on TBI, it is not sufficient to develop guidelines on how to apply this type of therapy to specific patients, according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine (IoM).

WASHINGTON — Insomnia symptoms may be an important predictor of suicidal ideation in military troops, a recent study found.

WASHINGTON — During her 20-year career as a nurse working at the Washington DC VA Medical Center, L. Gale Bell, RN, has had any number of jobs, but she said none was more satisfying than her current position — Women Veterans Program manager and clinical coordinator.