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Show Veteran News . . . Veterans Administration reports that it had 2,035 women veterans as patients in October 1947, latest lat-est date for which figures are avai-able. avai-able. Of this number, 1,230 were in VA hospitals and 805 in non-VA hospitals. hos-pitals. In addition to those hospitalized hospit-alized last October, another 238 were in VA domicilary homes, bringing the total number of women wo-men under care by VA on that date to 2,273. Last June 30, latest date for which figures are available, 13,-652 13,-652 women veterans of World War II were receiving government disability dis-ability compensation or pension as a result of war service. On the same date, 4,564 women veterans of World. War I were also receiving receiv-ing disability compensation or pensions. pen-sions. Women veterans are eligible for the same medical care as male veterans. vet-erans. They are granted out-patient treatment and priority for hospitalization for service-connected disabilities and may also be treated in VA hospitals for non-service-connected ailments, provided provid-ed a bed is available and they say they cannot aford to pay for treatment treat-ment elsewhere. In addition, they may receive treatment in non-VA hospitals for nonservice-connected disabilities, providing prior approval is obtained obtain-ed from VA. Approximately 20 percent of all correspondence received by VA from ex-servicemen and women requires re-quires research before an answer :can be given. Theese letters must be sent to the master index file in Washington, Washing-ton, D. C. for proper identification because the writers fail to include their claim, insurance or service serial numbers, VA said. Most delays de-lays in answering veterans' communications com-munications are attributed to this failure on the part of the letter writers to identify themselves properly pro-perly in their first letter to VA. VA said another 20 percent of the mail must be referred to the index for information on individual accounts not available elsewhere. Most recent available figures indicate in-dicate VA central and regional offices of-fices are handling in excess of 11,000,000 pieces of mail per month, with another estimated 3,500,000 communications arriving at the 13 branch offices. |