VA Committed to Ending Veteran Homelessness in Five Years

The Department of Veterans Affairs is taking decisive action to end Veteran homelessness in five years.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a National Call Center for Homeless Veterans hotline to ensure that homeless Veterans or Veterans at-risk for homelessness have free, 24/7 access to trained counselors.

The hotline is intended to assist homeless Veterans and their families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners, community agencies, service providers and others in the community.

The ups and downs of measuring blood pressure.

You’ve just been to the doctor and your blood pressure is a bit high. Or is it?
Promoting proper pressure procedures — Dr. Ben Powers of Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center led a study on how providers can obtain the most accurate blood pressure readings for patients. Here, he checks Janet McMillion’s pressure.

Gastric bypass surgery and high-risk patients

A study that tracked outcomes for more than 42,000 mostly older, male, severely obese Veterans found that those who underwent a common form of bariatric surgery did not live more years, on average, than similar patients who did not opt for surgery.

Dr. Sunil V. Rao Honored with Award

Dr. Sunil V. Rao, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the Durham VA Medical Center, was awarded the W. Proctor Harvey Teaching Award at the American College of Cardiology Conference in New Orleans recently.

Dr. Timothy Hammond instrumental in Durham VA and NASA Partnership

The May 16 launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, with a research payload for two new vaccines aboard, marked yet another milestone in VA’s longstanding collaboration with NASA. The payload, which includes National Pathfinder Vaccine 10, is working toward vaccines for two common infections: salmonella and an antibiotic resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus, also known as “golden staph” or MRSA. The Durham, North Carolina VA Medical Center (VAMC) houses a lead laboratory led by Dr. Tim Hammond for the International Space Station Pathfinder program. Patricia Allen administers the Durham based team, as it works with Bioserve Space Technologies of Boulder, CO in developing the apparatus to contain, transport and study the specimens, and a logistics team at Kennedy Space center.