Bozho
(Hello),

I hope by now everyone has had a flu shot. It is extremely important, especially for us senior veterans. Military veterans with computers, search the internet for “no cost flu shots for veterans at Walgreens.” Veterans can receive free vaccinations at a local Walgreens or Duane Reade in your area through a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. See this link for more information: cpn.news/flu18.

According to a press release from the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, this fiscal year’s hospital star rating shows a large improvement in overall quality of service at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers across the nation. “As part of the efforts to remain transparent and hold facilities accountable, the VA released an end of the fiscal year 2018 hospital star ratings, which evaluate and benchmark quality of care delivery at VA medical centers across the nation.”

“With closer monitoring and increased medical center leadership and support, they have seen solid improvements at most of the facilities,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Even the highest performing facilities are getting better, and that is driving up the quality standards across the country.”

The star rating designation is designed to help VA identify the best practices of its top performing hospitals and share them across VA’s health care system to achieve system-wide improvements.”

According to data from a year ago, the VA Medical Centers improved 66 percent in overall quality.

The 2018 report stated the Veterans Health Administration uses a comprehensive tool called strategic analytics for improvement and learning that assesses access to care, quality of mental health care, employee perception about the organization, nursing turnover, efficiency and capacity. The star rating system marks each VA Medical Center from one to five.

Here are a few of the VA Medical Centers that you may be familiar with:

  • Muskogee, Oklahoma — 2/5 stars, little improvement
  • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — 2/5 stars, small improvement
  • Fayetteville, Arkansas — 3/5 stars, little improvement
  • New Orleans, Louisiana — 3/5 stars, large improvement
  • Amarillo, Texas — 4/5 stars, large improvement
  • Dallas, Texas — 2/5, small improvement

This is only a small list of the VA Medical Centers. For a complete list, you can visit va.gov.

Remember, the CPN Veterans Organization meets every month on the fourth Tuesday at 6 p.m. (or as soon as you can get there) in the North Reunion Hall on the Potawatomi Powwow Grounds. All CPN and spouse veterans and their families are welcome. A meal is provided.

Migwetch
(Thank you),

Daryl Talbot, Commander
talbotok@sbcglobal.net
405-275-1054

CPN VA Representative: Andrew Whitham
CPN Office Hours: 1st and 3rd Wednesday each month, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Phone: 918-397-2566