“It’s integrity, it’s advocacy, it’s respect, it’s excellence. These are the things that we try to do for our veterans.” Those are the words as well as the actions Robert McDonald have taken in his very short time as Secretary of the VA. It appears veterans under the Veteran’s Administration (VA) system of care have…
ReadRecently I had the privilege of conversing with the parents of an Afghanistan war veteran who tragically lost his life in a shooting encounter with Tulsa police. In many of the early media reports, the parents recognized that the police officer was only doing his job to protect the neighborhood. His mother also acknowledged that…
ReadAs a US Army Infantry veteran with a service connected injury, the recent allegations of deaths due to health care failures within the VA medical system that directs my healthcare, has, needless to say, been a concern the past few weeks. Check This Out to contact the urgent care services that are available around your…
ReadOn Thursday October 3, 2013, everyone in the United States may have been exposed to just how silent and serious the issue of brain injury is in our nation. In this lesson there were no connections to a person living with post concussive issues from playing in the NFL or details of a veteran experiencing…
ReadMany would agree that one of the most disturbing trends regarding veterans and mental health has been the rising number of suicides. What is more troubling is that the Department of Defense (DOD), Veterans Administration (VA) and the US Senate and Congress have consistently acknowledged the suicides of veterans as a serious issue for the…
ReadSeptember is National Suicide Awareness month. It would be easy to jump on the band wagon by writing a story using all of the statistical information being blogged and bantered about the past few weeks. With my experience being called during many awkward hours, from a veteran or service member with plans to end their…
ReadThere have been some new ideas coming out the VA Mental Health Summits currently being conducted by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) across the United States. One that is particularly impressive to me is the Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Veteran’s Diversion / Treatment Court. This program goes a few steps further than the more common “Veteran’s…
ReadIt’s been no secret that the Veterans Health Administration has been overwhelmed. This challenge and increased media attention has brought about much needed changes. Though there are still some major deficits and encumbrances that need to be addressed, strong leadership and openness to new partnerships with the local communities are emerging. One example of change…
ReadSix months ago I joined the staff of Brookhaven Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a Case Manager to the Neurologic Rehabilitation Institute (NRI). Here, my experience in working with Traumatic Brain Injury, Dual Diagnosis mental health counseling and case managing disabled veterans is being utilized for assessment and outreach to patients referred to the hospital…
ReadDuring my years of working exclusively with disabled veterans, my work brought me to homeless shelters, drug courts, veteran’s courts, prisons and county jails, and working with prison re-entry. My travels brought me to small towns, rural counties and larger municipalities. The most difficult cases involved veterans who had experienced combat injuries from explosions, falls…
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