The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced that women veterans enrolled in VA health care can now schedule gynecology appointments directly with a VA gynecology specialist, no longer needing a referral from a primary care provider. The change is expected to improve access to specialized women’s health care for more than one million women veterans in the VA system. According to VA Secretary Doug Collins, the reform reflects a commitment to making the VA “work better” for the veterans it serves.
Four Chaplains to be remembered
St. Cloud’s American Legion Post 80, located at 1019 Pennsylvania Ave., will conduct a Four Chaplains remembrance ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. During World War II, a packed U.S. troop ship enroute to Britain was torpedoed at night in the frigid waters off Greenland. Seeing many soldiers on deck with no life jackets, four Army chaplains, one of whom was a decorated World War I combat medic, each gave their life jacket to another soldier, knowing that they would certainly drown in the freezing ocean.
Family Caregivers comprehensive assistance program extended until 2028
The Department of Veterans Affairs recently extended the extension of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) eligibility for certain Veterans and their family caregivers through Sept. 30, 2028. The extension means legacy participants, legacy applicants, and their family caregivers will remain eligible for PCAFC and will not experience a reduction in their monthly stipend based on a reassessment for an additional three years, with limited exceptions.
Legacy participants are veterans or service members whose family caregivers were approved and designated by VA as of Sept. 30, 2020, while legacy applicants are veterans or service members who applied for PCAFC before Oct. 1, 2020, and were accepted into the program on or after Oct. 1, 2020. The primary family caregiver must remain the same individual named in the application submitted before Oct. 1, 2020. PCAFC families will remember that, previously, numerous attempts were made to diminish and discontinue this program over the last few years, so hopefully, they can breathe easy for the next two years or so. For more information, see https://bit.ly/4qQm7c0
Start out the New Year with career help from Hiring Our Heroes
Hiring Our Heroes is an effort by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to assist transitioning service members and veterans by offering free virtual skills training and hiring events. A schedule of nine virtual events started January 15th and will continue until February 4th. On the same site is a resume engine to help create and ensure your resume is “demilitarized,” to avoid perplexing potential civilian hiring managers. Also on the site is a link to IBM Skills Build, an educational platform designed to provide free access to over 1,000 online courses and digital credentials. Courses are offered in various fields, including Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics, Software Engineering, IT Support, and Cloud Computing, to name a few. See more at https://bit.ly/49Cch6C
