titleend VETERANS SERVICE AGENCY REPORT
June 6, 2024 - 11:00 AM
Director's Report
* Local Activities
o On Saturday, April 27th, I attended the Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties Honor Salute. The Honor Salute is a unique program that gives pride and peace to our terminally ill veterans while bringing family and friends together to celebrate their military service. I visited with 96-year-old WWII and Korean war era veteran, SAM KURPIL in Liberty, NY. He was born on April 20, 1928 in Parksville. The ceremony was appreciated by the veteran, his family, and all in attendance.
o On Saturday, May 18th, our Clerk Sheldon Dillon, attended the Healthy Sullivan Health Fair in the Government Center lobby. Sheldon worked with our Divisional partners to provide information regarding eligibility and the resources available within the VA health care system.
o On Monday, May 20th, I attended the ATI Saluting Spouses Program held at the ATI building on Broadway in Monticello. This event gave me the opportunity to provide military spouses with a list of State, County, and Federal benefits and programs available for families with disabled or deployed servicemen and women.
o Completed and distributed the Memorial Day list of events throughout the County.
o Held our annual County Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 27th at the Sullivan County Veterans' Cemetery on Sunset Lake Road in Liberty.
* PACT Act Updates
o The PACT ACT continues to increase office traffic. March resulted in 844 phone calls and April 931 with most being PACT related issues.
o Myself and office staff have been working diligently to acquire proper ratings and effective dates of claim for our clients as these two issues comprise the majority of the errors received in a VA rating decision. Inadequate C&P exams and unlawful denials caused by a flawed electronic processing system continue to add to our workload and increase costs to our taxpayers.
o Our annual required Federal Training ran from May 13th -...
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