VAntage Point
Remembering Former VA Secretary Jesse Brown
This February, while the nation celebrates Black History Month, VA’s Homeless Programs Office (HPO) recognizes that our history of accomplishments preventing and ending Veteran homelessness is built on the work of trailblazing Black men and women. Among these notable individuals is Jesse Brown, a decorated disabled Vietnam Veteran who, in 1993, became the first African American Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Secretary Brown, who wanted to be known as the Secretary
for Veterans Affairs, was an advocate, visionary and leader whose commitment to Veterans led to an expansion of VA benefits and programs. Along with delivering on a number of far-sighted goals to innovate within the Department, Brown extended disability payments to Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and Agent Orange exposure, expanded services to women Veterans, and addressed the needs of Veterans experiencing homelessness.
Jesse Brown VA supervisor charged with pocketing kickbacks
By Sun-Times Media Wire
CHICAGO - A supervisor at
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center faces federal charges after allegedly getting kickbacks to steer nearly $2 million in orders that were never fulfilled.
Thomas Duncan, a supplies manager
at the Near West Side hospital, received about $36,350 in a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Duncan, 37, allegedly agreed to accept kickbacks from Daniel Dingle, the president of a Dolton medical supply company, to place orders from Dingle’s company.
Dingle made checks payable to Helping Hands Property LLC, a private company managed by Duncan, to hide the money’s true purpose, the indictment states.
Veterans hospital supervisor charged in $1 7 million kickback scheme chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
VA Marks 75th Anniversary of Academic Affiliations
Updated 2/1/2021 10:39 AM
Throughout 2021, the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (VAMC) will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the VA academic affiliation program, a program that began in Chicago with the first residents from Northwestern University.
Academic affiliations with VA began in 1946. As World War II ended, VA did not have the resources necessary to provide adequate care to the more than 1,000,000 new patients returning from the war. The academic affiliation program began to create the workforce of students, physician residents, and faculty necessary to provide world-class to Veterans, as well as provide training opportunities to future generations of physicians.
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A new therapy developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center is showing success as a way to prevent COVID-19 symptoms in mice.
In a study published in the
Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, mouse models with COVID-19 showed positive results when a small peptide was introduced nasally. The peptide proved effective in reducing fever, protecting the lungs, improving heart function and reversing cytokine storm a condition in which an infection triggers the immune system to flood the bloodstream with inflammatory proteins. The researchers also report success in preventing the disease from progression. This could be a new approach to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and protect COVID-19 patients from breathing problems and cardiac issues, said Kalipada Pahan, PhD, the Floyd A. Davis Professor of Neurology at Rush and a Research Career Scientist at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. Understanding the mechanism is proving important to developing effective therapi