What's New, Pussycat?

Veterans Affairs’ own health-care professionals say that the department’s efforts are not enough.

After conducting hearings last summer on long waits for mental-health appointments, Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the chairwoman ofthe Veterans Affairs Committee, asked the department to survey its providers across the country to find out what the problems were. The results, released this month, show chronic inadequacies in access to care.

Only 29 percent of respondents — 272 psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses and social workers at dozens of hospitals and clinics — said their workplace had enough staff to meet demand. Nearly 40 percent said they could not schedule an appointment for a new patient within the two-week window the veterans department requires. Nearly 70 percent said they lacked enough space. And nearly half said some patients were being denied care because no appointments were available outside regular office hours.

Veterans need better access to care in community outpatient clinics. They need clinics to be open early mornings and evenings. They need the Veterans Affairs Department to fill mental health staffing vacancies — now at 13.6 percent. If the question is money, the department and the White House need to fight for it in Congress. Acknowledging a mental health problem is a huge hurdle for stoic soldiers. It takes courage to ask for help. When they do, they should not have to wait for a response.

(Source: abbyjean)