Health

More than 800 military vets attended the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs first ever “Stand Down” in Southeast Alaska last week.

“Stand Down” events are designed to give veterans access to health care and housing services, both from the VA and local nonprofits.

A new agreement between the VA and Alaska Native health care providers should make it easier for vets in rural Alaska to access those services.

Alaska VA Spokeswoman Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe says the agreement, signed in May, allows Native health providers to directly bill the VA for care provided to veterans.

“Even though we have probably the largest geographic area of any state, our veterans in Alaska will probably have the best access to either directly provided VA health care or care that we purchase from a community or Alaska Native provider,” says Hoffman-DeVoe.

Lincoln Bean, Sr. of Kake is a board member for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and Alaska Native Health Systems. He’s not a veteran himself, but he helped negotiate the agreement, because when he was growing up, those who served were among the most respected members of his community.

“World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan. And I kept hearing they’re not getting the benefits they should be getting,” Bean says. “And that’s why this is happening today.”

While Anchorage and Fairbanks have hosted “Stand Downs” for years, the event at Centennial Hall Friday and Saturday was the first one held in Southeast Alaska. It’s part of the VA’s effort to expand its presence in the state. The Southeast Native Veterans group opened the event with the Presentation of Colors.

Tony Mills is an Army vet from Hoonah, who served during Vietnam. He says he’s had issues with the VA in the past. During a visit to a VA clinic in Anchorage in 1998, Mills says the doctor didn’t even know what branch of the service he’d been in.

“He said, ‘How long were you in the Marine Corp?’ I told him, ‘Marine Corp? I never was in that Marine Corp,'” Mills says. “I told him I got drafted into the Army.”

Mills says he’s glad to hear about the new sharing agreement, which he plans to take advantage of at the SEARHC clinic in Hoonah. He also says the two-year-old VA clinic in Juneau’s Federal Building should make it easier to access the medical tests he needs.

“I’ll be coming back this coming Wednesday for the hearing test over here. I guess they’re gonna have it up on the sixth floor,” he says. “And the Coast Guard doctor from Mt. Edgecumbe [Hospital], he came over, and he’s the one who got me going on this.”

“Stand Down” events date back to Vietnam, when frontline soldiers would rotate to a safe and secure area for hot meals, medical treatment, and new uniforms. Traditionally, non-combat “Stand Downs” focus on homeless vets and vets in need.

The VA brought two semi-truck loads of military surplus gear to Juneau for the Southeast “Stand Down.” Socks, underwear, jackets, backpacks and other supplies filled one of the ballrooms at Centennial Hall, available to any vet who needed something.

Ex-Marine Dan Roberts came looking for a new sleeping bag.

“I sleep on my boat and it gets kind of chilly now, because I don’t use my heater at night,” Roberts says.

As he collected his new sleeping bag from a volunteer, Roberts talked about how much it and all the other supplies mean to him.

“Shoes, bag, sleeping bag deluxe, and other clothing, socks and underwear, you name it,” he says. “I’m overwhelmed.”

For those veterans who couldn’t make it to the “Stand Down” in Juneau, the VA arranged for gear to be shipped to smaller communities throughout Southeast. The VA’s Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe says the agency would like to see a local nonprofit organize it into an annual event.

Juneau’s Fourth of July Committee has named KTOO’s Jeff Brown as one of two Grand Marshals for the 2013 parade. Jerry Harmon, of Kensington Gold Mine, is also a Grand Marshal.

The theme for next year’s parade is “Music and Mining Memories.”

Jeff Brown
As KTOO/KRNN Program Director, Brown has been much more than music programmer, especially now that Juneau public broadcasting has three radio stations. Brown has been the host of KTOO’s annual parade coverage, the syndicated “We Like Kids”, and most recently “Juneau Afternoon.” He organizes and trains radio station volunteers and has too many other jobs to list. He’s often been called KTOO’s “glue.”

Here are some excerpts from the Committee’s biography of Brown, written by Paul Wescott:

“Master of Cheerful Smiles,” “Humorist Laureate” and “Master of Merriment” are but a few of the titles bestowed on self-described funaholic Jeff Brown, our 2013 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal.

Anyone who has crossed paths with Jeff, either in person or over the air, has come away with a laugh or a smile and a lilt in the step. Jeff has been working that magic on us for more than 37 years, ever since he first arrived in Juneau as a medic with the Coast Guard. In short order, he hooked up with KTOO and launched into his multi-media, multi-talented mission to inform us, inspire us, brighten our rainy days and especially exercise our funny bones. He is a radio and TV talent, musician, organizer, artist, writer, friend, sage, magician and former gorilla.

Real Alaskan Magazine is one of his more widely-known creative endeavors… Curiously, you may come away knowing more in-depth about Alaska than you would with more serious works…

If you see someone walking around in a ridiculous balloon hat, that may be evidence that Jeff Brown is in the vicinity. Laughing.

Jerry Harmon
As the other Grand Marshal for the 2013 parade, Jerry Harmon is the master of mining memories. For 18 years he was chairman of the Juneau Gold Rush Committee. He’s helped restore many mining artifacts on display throughout Juneau, and participates every year in the design and building of July 4th parade floats for Kensington and Greens Creek mines. He and his wife Beverly opened the AJ Mine/Gastineau Mill tour in 2000.

Harmon came to Juneau in 1985 when Echo Bay was considering reopening the AJ Mine. He currently works for Coeur Alaska at the Kensington Gold Mine.

The Juneau Chamber of Commerce named him Citizen of the Year in 2000 for his many contributions to the community.

Alaska abuse shelters throughout the state took in more victims last year, according to the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

The number of nights spent in a shelter between Fiscal Year 2010 and FY 2011 increased by 5 percent.

Places like Juneau’s AWARE shelter provide protection and intervention for victims as well as education and outreach.

AWARE, which stands for Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies, has helped battered women and children in Juneau and nine other rural communities for more than 30 years.

Next week it will offer 40 hours of training about the scourge of abuse.

The class is for community members who want to help family or friends who may have been victims of abuse as well as people who work in health care and other agencies that deal with victims.

AWARE’s Swarupa Toth says the two-part 40-hour training begins by exploring the basic history and foundation of domestic violence, adult and child sexual abuse, taught by experts who work in the field.

But she says the real experts are the victims with whom they work.

“The people who really teach us about what’s going on and what works are the women and children and the men themselves, the victims. They’re the ones who let us know what works for them and what doesn’t; what the real concern is and what will help them and what we can do to help other people,” Toth says. “Often times after a trauma, the best medicine for someone who’s trying to survive one of these experiences is someone who has survived.”

Toth says the first 25 hours of training are Sept. 10th through the 20th on evenings and weekends. She says people also can sign up for fewer hours.

Toth describes the last 15 hours as more “hands-on.” It will be taught by AWARE staff and volunteers, emergency room nurses, and staff from other agencies who work with assault victims. She says many of the people who take the second part of the training are interested in volunteering or working in the field.

Alaska has one of the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in the country. The 2010 Alaska Victimization Survey estimates that nearly 60 percent of Alaskan women have or will experience some sort of sexual violence in their lifetime.

Toth says the Parnell administration’s Choose Respect campaign has helped raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence in Alaska.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is holding its first ever “Stand Down” outreach event in Southeast Alaska, Friday and Saturday at Juneau’s Centennial Hall.

“Stand Down” events are designed to provide services to veterans, especially homeless vets and vets in need. The Juneau event will feature information about VA services, as well as thirteen local nonprofits and Native groups.

“Having VA staff and programs, and community programs, ultimately provides a better package for the veterans,” says Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe, a spokeswoman for the Alaska VA Healthcare System. “So that, we’re working with the agencies here in the community to do those transitions between what we can provide and what the community agency can provide.”

Hoffman-DeVoe says VA “Stand Down” events take place nationwide. Anchorage has hosted them for more than 25 years and Fairbanks for more than a decade. Barrow held the first one in rural Alaska last fall. She hopes the Southeast “Stand Down” will become a regular event.

“There are 77,000 veterans in the State of Alaska. I just checked the 2010 Census figures again, and Alaska continues to have the highest number of veterans per capita at 14 percent of our population. About 10 percent of those veterans live in Southeast Alaska,” Hoffman-DeVoe says.

Non-VA partners in the “Stand Down” event include the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, Front Street Clinic and Southeast Senior Services.

In addition to health care and housing services, veterans who attend the event can get used clothing, blankets and sheets through the U.S. Defense Re-Utilization Office.

The event will be held Friday from to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Centennial Hall. Lunch will be provided.

For more information on the program, Hoffman-DeVoe will be on a Juneau Afternoon Thursday at 3 p.m. on KTOO.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Starting next year, store owners in Homer will no longer be giving customers plastic shopping bags.

The Homer City Council on Monday passed a ban on the bags.

Councilman David Lewis says the ordinance arose from concern over land and marine pollution caused by plastic bags. Lewis says Homer’s economy is based on tourism and fisheries, and there are plenty of other good alternatives.

Small plastic bags used to hold items such as baked goods will continue to be allowed.

Homer is the latest Alaska community to ban plastic bags. Bethel also Hooper Bay also have laws against their use.

A citizen-sponsored ballot proposition last year would have taxed them in Juneau, but the measure failed.

Homer’s ordinance takes effect January 1, 2013.

Bartlett Regional Hospital has a new Chief Financial Officer.

Certified Public Accountant Ken Brough (pronounced Bruff) will start in October. He’s the second new executive to be hired by the city-owned hospital this year. Chief Executive Officer Chris Harff has been on the job just two weeks.

Brough comes from Wyoming, where he is CFO for Star Valley Medical Center in Afton. The non-profit hospital is a joint acute care / nursing home operation. Brough also has managed professional accounting companies and was a CPA in the Salt Lake City office of the financial services company KPMG.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Utah State University.

According to a news release from the hospital, Brough has traveled extensively to Alaska for work and play. His daughter and husband own a sport fishing operation in Southeast Alaska.

For more than two decades, Bartlett Regional Hospital has been run by an outside management company. Last year, the board of directors decided to hire its own CEO and CFO.