The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center will host a Stand Down for Homeless Veterans on Friday, October 23, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This free event will be held on the grounds of the Salvation Army, 1384 Greene St., Augusta, Georgia.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be asked to pay disability benefits and possibly other compensation for hospital mistakes that possibly exposed veterans to infectious body fluids.

An attorney for veterans who were possibly exposed to HIV and other infections at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals says his clients are waiting to hear if they will be compensated for mistakes that led to congressional hearings and new VA spending on patient safety.

A new federal report shows a Veterans Affairs clinic in Augusta was investigating improper sterilization of endoscopic equipment a month before a similar discovery in Tennessee set off a national review of VA cleaning procedures.

Lawmakers sharply criticized the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday about why a national scare over botched colonoscopies earlier this year didn’t prompt stronger safeguards at the agency’s medical centers. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has pledged to take disciplinary action over the matter.

The Associated Press has learned that fewer than half of Veterans Affairs clinics given a surprise inspection last month followed proper standards for colonoscopies and other minimally invasive procedures - even after the agency learned that mistakes may have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV and other diseases.

Mistakes that put patients at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals at risk of possible exposure to HIV and other infectious body fluids will be discussed by a congressional panel. Among more than 10,000 former VA patients in Murfreesboro, Miami and Augusta, Ga., who the VA has warned to get follow-up blood checks, five have tested positive for HIV and 39 have tested positive for hepatitis.

A new clinic in downtown Augusta designed to meet the medical needs of female veterans is now open. Thursday morning, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center opened its new women’s health clinic. WJBF News Channel 6’s Fraendy Clervaud has more on the clinic.

According to a release, there is funding coming to the Augusta VA Medical Center. Congressman John Barrow announced the funding on Monday.

According to a release, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, in Augusta, is notifying 1,200 veterans of the availability of free screenings for infections for those who had procedures performed in the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic from January 2008 through November 2008. These patients may have been exposed to infection because the instrument used in the procedure was improperly disinfected.

According to a release, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, in Augusta, is notifying 1,200 veterans of the availability of free screenings for infections for those who had procedures performed in the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic from January 2008 through November 2008. These patients may have been exposed to infection because the instrument used in the procedure was improperly disinfected.