Source: Kitsap Sun
http://kilmer.house.gov/news/in-the-news/construction-begins-on-veterans-affairs-puget-sound-clinic-in-silverdale
After many years of planning and quite a few setbacks, ground was broken on Monday morning on the long-awaited Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Silverdale.
"As we break ground today, there's one word that comes to mind more than any other, and it's 'Phew!'" said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer. "To say that this has been a long time coming would be quite an understatement."
In October 2015, the VA Puget Sound selected a building on Kitsap Way in Bremerton, which previously housed a Rite Aid, as its new clinic site. But the project was waylaid when it was discovered the building wasn't up to federal seismic standards. The VA terminated the lease for that facility in January 2017 and headed back to the drawing board before selecting the Silverdale site last July.
Construction should be completed in about one year, said Mike Brown, a partner with Veterans Plaza LLC, which will build the clinic. Bremerton-based architecture firm Rice Fergus Miller designed it.
For years, the VA Puget Sound has sought to build a larger clinic in Kitsap County to address the backlog and long wait times at the existing 6,000-square-foot VA clinic at 925 Adele Ave. in Bremerton.
"We've definitely outgrown that space, not only with the number of veterans we need to serve, but when it comes to technology and the services available there," said Michael Tadych, director of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System.
About 37,000 veterans in the area are eligible to receive health care from the Bremerton clinic.
"(They) should be able to receive the health care services they deserve, right here in our community, rather than traveling to Seattle or American Lake for attention," said Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido.
The future Silverdale clinic will be a 15,000-square-foot, one-story building with a large lobby space, a covered drop-off area and a parking lot of more than 90 spots.
The clinic will be located at 9177 Ridgetop Blvd., right in the middle of the county's commercial hub, with access to Clear Creek and the neighboring hiking trail.
Urban City Brew Co. is currently located at the future clinic's street address. Once construction begins to pick up, the coffee shop will be moving to a new location at 15220 Silverdale Way NW, said owner Kaitlin Hubbell.
The clinic will offer expanded mental health services and tele-medicine services as well as provide access to an additional home-based primary care team and on-site physical therapy, said VA Puget Sound spokeswoman Kimberly Wilkie.
The VA opened a temporary administrative office at 2771 Hemlock St. in Bremerton at the beginning of March to alleviate some of the strain on the Bremerton clinic until the Silverdale clinic begins providing care to patients.
Certain health care functions, such as the home-based primary care, tele-health and tele-mental health programs, moved over to the annex to open up more clinical space to treat patients at the Bremerton clinic.
Although the annex predominantly houses administrative functions, patients can be seen at the annex for tele-dermatology services by appointment only. For all other health care needs, patients need to go to the Bremerton clinic, Wilkie said.
Once the Silverdale clinic is operational, both the Bremerton clinic and the temporary administration office are slated to close.
Many veterans are looking forward to the expand care possibilities the larger clinic could offer.
"I'll have to come check it out because the old facility didn't have what I needed," said Daniel Defenbaugh, a veteran who served in the Navy for seven and half years and worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Although Defenbaugh has sought out mostly private health care for his medical needs, he goes to the Bremerton clinic when he can.
"They seem to have a caring staff, but they're restricted on what they can provide," he said. "I think the frustration with so many veterans is the wait time, but that's a problem with healthcare in general."
Defenbaugh is looking forward to when the clinic opens for the possibility of it becoming a sort of central meeting place for veterans and the community to interact.
"Another aspect of it is that could be more of a kind of meeting place where people can just kind of show up and have some interaction with some of the vets as sort of a way to give back," he said.
Senator Murray’s bill, the Child Care for Working Families Act, is the first of its kind and would address the high cost of child care & promote access to high-quality early learning
Press release issued 4/ 5/ 18
https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=BBCDA0DF-1BAA-467E-BF8D-B94520E2B125
(Seattle) – On the heels of securing the largest increase ever in federal child care funding to address America’s growing child care crisis, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate education committee, visited child care and early learning centers across Washington state to hear directly from parents, children, and child care workers and center directors about the challenges working families face when trying to find affordable, high-quality child care. Touring centers from the Tri-Cities to Southwest Washington, Senator Murray discussed her work to reduce child care costs for low and middle-income parents and strengthen investments in the nation’s child care infrastructure and workforce as part of her continued efforts to make the economy work better for working families.
Senator Murray made stops in Richland, Longview, Vancouver and Seattle to tour local child care facilities and learn more about how the lack of affordable child care options impact families and communities throughout Washington state. During her visits, Senator Murray met with local parents and child care center administrators and workers to hear stories of their various child care experiences, and shared the latest developments on her bill, the Child Care for Working Families Act. Additionally, Senator Murray discussed her recent efforts to secure more than $2.3 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant in the bipartisan spending bill Congress passed last month—the largest increase in federal child care spending ever, and a significant “down payment” on the bill’s goals to expand access to high-quality, affordable child care for all.
“As I’ve traveled and listened to stories across Washington state – from parents who’ve had to make tough choices in their families because of climbing child care costs, to child care center directors who have to routinely turn away tearful parents because there just aren’t enough slots to go around – one thing is certain: no family or community is exempt from the child care crisis,” said Senator Murray. “As a former preschool teacher, I know the first years of a child’s life are the most critical to their development, yet too many working families across our country don’t have the resources or support they need to give their kids the right start to enter Kindergarten ready to learn and succeed. As so many parents have told me, when it comes to securing our future, we can either pay for it now by improving child care and early learning for the next generation of students and workers, or pay for it dearly later – and that’s why I’ll continue fighting to strengthen investments in our youngest learners until our dream of providing high-quality child care for all is a reality.”
The Child Care for Working Families Act would significantly expand access to child care and early learning for low and middle-income families by bringing down rising child care costs, ensuring that no family under 150 percent of the state median income pays more than seven percent of their income on child care. Additionally, the bill would make major investments in training and compensation for child care workers, and would significantly expand access to high-quality preschool for low- and middle-income 3 and 4 year olds. Unveiled last fall, Senator Murray has already garnered strong bicameral support for the legislation, with 30 Senate co-sponsors and 119 cosponsors on the House companion bill.
Senator Murray’s tour began last Thursday, March 29 with a visit to the YMCA Early Learning Center in Richland, where a local father spoke about the financial strain his family has suffered due to rising child care costs for his three daughters, and long-time child care advocates shared details about the challenges they’ve faced finding and recruiting high-quality child care workers due to a lack of incentives for professionals to remain in early childhood jobs. On April 3, Senator Murray visited Lower Columbia College’s Early Learning Center in Longview, where she met with student parents who discussed the importance of ensuring their children are exposed to high-quality early learning experiences to prepare them for school success. The next day, on April 4, Senator Murray traveled to Vancouver where she was joined by NYU researcher Ajay Chaudry, author of Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality, on a tour of the Hough Early Learning Center, and met with local parents who shared personal stories about the difficulties they’ve faced trying to find quality child care they could afford. Senator Murray wrapped up this leg of her child care tour on April 5, visiting with parents and workers at South Seattle’s Hoa Mai Vietnamese Preschool, where she heard more about the benefits of investing in child care workers and affordability for working families.
WORLD NEWS HEADLINES FROM THE UN NEWS CENTER & OTHER SOURCES.
UN PRESS RELEASE: Delegates Exchange Views on Unleashing Private Sector Power to Solve Entrenched Inequalities at Day-long Economic and Social Council Partnership Forum
With 8 per cent of people around the world living in poverty, and 192 million unemployed, achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development would require unleashing the power of the business community to solve entrenched structural ills, delegates told the Economic and Social Council Partnership Forum today.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/ecosoc6898.doc.htm
Global food price index rises for second consecutive month – UN agency
Global food prices rose for the second consecutive month with the index for these commodities averaging 172.8 points in March, 1.1 per cent higher than in February, the United Nations food security agency announced Thursday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/04/1006601
Mine action is ‘concrete step towards peace,’ says UN chief on International Mine Awareness Day
On the day set aside to raise awareness about the threat of landmines, unexploded grenades and other munitions that impede the return to normal life after conflict, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is urging Governments to provide political and financial support to keep up the vital work of mine action wherever it is needed.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/04/1006411
Test sample results from Salisbury nerve agent attack expected next week – chemical weapons watchdog
Results of tests of samples collected from individuals exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury, the United Kingdom, are expected to be received by early next week, the head of the United Nations-backed body working to rid the world of chemical weapons said on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/04/1006541
IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION
Page 2
Senators Murray, Cantwell Announce Federal Investments in Transit Agencies Across Washington State
Page 3
Cantwell Statement On Trump Administration Attack On Fuel Efficiency
Page 4
INSLEE'S Statement on EPA's decision to weaken federal emissions standards.
page 5: BUSINESS & FINANCE
Dental hygienist pleads guilty for lying to state in workers' comp case
page 6 Commentary & meeting agendas
