CalVet report outlines several potential fates for Barstow Veterans Home
Victorville Daily Press
The Veterans Home of California in Barstow could look very different in the future, with potential changes on the table that include reducing the number of staffed beds to fewer than half its current number.
State officials, however, say the cut will place the facility more in line with its demand, as it already struggles to fill budgeted beds.
Plans and recommendations for the home were outlined in a report from the California Department of Veterans Affairs, or CalVet, last week.
The report comes after the veterans home was slated for closure as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget in May of last year.
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Jason Smedley remembers the pain of his 2000 attack by lower-ranking Marines during a training exercise he led as a lance corporal at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton’s School of Infantry. While some held Smedley, the others beat him, knocking out many of his teeth.
“They just didn’t like taking orders from a Black guy,” Smedley said. As punishment, the group was barred from going out that weekend.
Unable to speak after enduring multiple dental surgeries, Smedley fell behind in the training and almost had to start over. At his breaking point, Smedley planned to leave the Marine Corps, until a Major convinced him to stay and ensured he would graduate with his group.
Pfizer s COVID-19 vaccine to roll out at Barstow Veterans Home on Thursday
Victorville Daily Press
After the successful administering of the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine at a veterans home in Northern California last week, the Veterans Home of California-Barstow is scheduled to do the same.
California Department of Veterans Affairs spokesperson Lindsey Sin said the home in Barstow is scheduled to have a clinic on site Thursday in partnership with CVS to administer the Pfizer vaccine.
Sin told the Daily Press CVS is bringing its own clinical team to conduct the inoculations.
The vaccine will be given to healthcare personnel, followed by veterans who are “at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19,” according to San Bernardino County Veterans Affairs Director Frank Guevara.
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently reappointed a Winters resident to the post of Deputy Secretary of Veteran Services at the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
Keith Boylan has served in this position since 2013 when he was appointed by then Gov. Jerry Brown.
Prior to his appointment, Boylan served as the Government Relations Liaison for the California Association of Veteran Service Agencies (CAVSA), a group of non-profit veteran service providers addressing the needs of California’s veterans.
Boylan is no stranger to the military, veteran service organizations and advocating on behalf of their causes.
At the age of 19 Boylan enlisted in the Army and served on active duty between 1989-1992. He joined the Army to take advantage of GI Bill college benefits and for an opportunity to be stationed in Germany.