VA Sec­re­tary Eric K. Shin­seki announces hir­ing of 1,600 new men­tal health care professionals

LANHAM, Md., April 23, 2012—AMVETS National Com­man­der Gary L. Fry expressed his sup­port today for the deci­sion to increase men­tal health staffing at the Depart­ment of Vet­er­ans Affairs by 1,600 pro­fes­sion­als. VA Sec­re­tary Eric K. Shin­seki announced on Thurs­day, April 19, the addi­tion of 1,600 men­tal health work­ers, includ­ing psy­chol­o­gists, psy­chi­a­trists, nurses, social work­ers and pro­fes­sional coun­selors, as well as 300 sup­port staff, increas­ing the men­tal health staff by nearly 10 per­cent. Hop­ing to reduce wait times and serve an increas­ing num­ber of return­ing war vet­er­ans, this increase in pro­fes­sion­als will sup­ple­ment the exist­ing work­force of 20,590 men­tal health staff. “As the tide of war recedes, we have the oppor­tu­nity, and the respon­si­bil­ity, to antic­i­pate the needs of return­ing vet­er­ans” Shin­seki said in a statement.

AMVETS rec­og­nizes that the VA faces sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges ensur­ing that newly return­ing war vet­er­ans have access to post-deployment read­just­ment ser­vices and spe­cial­ized treat­ments while guar­an­tee­ing that all other enrolled vet­er­ans gain and keep access to effec­tive, timely, high-quality men­tal health ser­vices. This new hire ini­tia­tive fol­lows a VA review that deter­mined short­ages in the men­tal health staff resulted in longer wait times for vet­er­ans to receive treat­ment. Begin­ning imme­di­ately, VA hopes the new per­son­nel will help to meet the needs of an increas­ing num­ber of vet­er­ans who are seek­ing men­tal health care.

“I applaud Sec­re­tary Shinseki’s action to address the crit­i­cal issue of vet­er­ans’ men­tal health care by adding the skilled and trained pro­fes­sion­als we need in this area,” said Fry. “AMVETS will con­tinue to work with our part­ners at VA, in Con­gress, and the Obama Admin­is­tra­tion, to ensure VA has the resources nec­es­sary to meet the needs of our Amer­i­can veterans.”

Since 2007, VA has expe­ri­enced a 35 per­cent increase in the num­ber of vet­er­ans who receive men­tal health ser­vices. Untreated and unhealed phys­i­cal and men­tal health com­bat injuries play a sig­nif­i­cant role in the num­ber of mil­i­tary and vet­eran sui­cides. VA reports that 18 vet­er­ans take their own lives each day, total­ing 6,750 vet­er­ans’ sui­cides per year. In a Fall 2011 sur­vey, 40 per­cent of the sur­veyed men­tal health providers gave a wait-time of 14 days for appoint­ments. Result­ing from staff defi­cien­cies, this wait-time proves crit­i­cal as vet­er­ans face life-threatening issues and are left with­out avail­able pro­fes­sion­als to pro­vide sup­port and treatment.

Chair­man of the Sen­ate Vet­er­ans’ Affairs Com­mit­tee U.S. Sen­a­tor Patty Mur­ray will hold a hear­ing on Wednes­day, April 25 to dis­cuss the defi­cien­cies in vet­er­ans’ men­tal health care and to hear the Inspec­tor General’s find­ings on the sub­ject. “Too often we have seen staff vacan­cies, sched­ul­ing delays, and red tape leave those vet­er­ans who have been brave enough to seek help in the first place left with nowhere to turn,” states Mur­ray in a state­ment. The VA has taken the first steps in solv­ing the prob­lems involved in vet­er­ans’ men­tal health care and AMVETS actively sup­ports these ini­tia­tives in aid­ing our nation’s veterans.

About AMVETS:
A leader since 1944 in pre­serv­ing the free­doms secured by America’s armed forces, AMVETS pro­vides sup­port for vet­er­ans and the active mil­i­tary in procur­ing their earned enti­tle­ments, as well as com­mu­nity ser­vice and leg­isla­tive reform that enhances the qual­ity of life for this nation’s cit­i­zens and vet­er­ans alike. AMVETS is one of the largest congressionally-chartered vet­er­ans’ ser­vice orga­ni­za­tions in the United States, and includes mem­bers from each branch of the mil­i­tary, includ­ing the National Guard and Reserves. To learn more visit www.amvets.org.