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MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS SOUGHT FOR VETERANS --
Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Barbara Boxer
(D-CA)
propose at least two facilities for war troops.
Story here...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/
news/metro/20070429-9999-1m29mental.html
Story below:
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Mental health centers sought for vets
Bill proposes at least 2 facilities for war troops
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Hundreds of thousands of service members nationwide, including thousands
stationed in San Diego County, could benefit from medical centers
dedicated to treating war-spawned mental illness and brain injuries, two
U.S. senators said in introducing a bill to create such facilities.
The Pentagon has no specialized centers to lead research on those
conditions, develop treatment standards for them or train health
professionals nationwide on how to administer the most up-to-date care.
“Our troops are risking their lives for this country, and we owe them
nothing less than the best care in return,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.,
who is co-sponsoring the legislation with Sen. Joe Lieberman, a
Connecticut independent. They introduced the bill Tuesday.
If signed into law, The Mental Health Care for Our Wounded Warriors Act
of 2007 would direct the Pentagon to establish at least two centers.
They would likely be part of existing military hospitals in regions with
many service members. Those facilities might include the San Diego Naval
Medical Center, also known as Balboa naval hospital.
The Pentagon would have up to six months from the legislation's
enactment to designate the sites, tell Congress how much money it needs
and specify other details for the system.
The bill would require Pentagon officials to inform Congress about what
they are doing to reduce a shortage of mental health specialists at
military hospitals. In recent months, surveys have documented the
understaffing and highlighted widespread burnout among remaining
psychologists, psychiatrists and other related workers.
“I think the biggest point of this legislation is the acknowledgment
that 'Houston, we have a problem.' The Defense Department . . .
underestimated both the physical and mental trauma caused by this war,”
said John Pike, director of the military think tank GlobalSecurity.org.
About 1.5 million service members have fought in the Iraq or Afghanistan
wars. Numerous studies have estimated that 17 percent to 33 percent of
them suffer mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress
disorder, and that one in 10 has experienced a traumatic brain injury.
Both conditions can require years of expensive and highly specialized
treatment.
Pike gave the bill a “pretty good chance” of becoming law.
“I consider this the down payment on what it is eventually going to cost
to take care of injured veterans,” he said.
Joe Violante, national legislative director for Disabled American
Veterans, praised Boxer and Lieberman for trying to improve care for
troops while they are still on active duty.
“The centers would be a way to develop experts,” said Violante, who
estimated that it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to start
such facilities. “Eventually, you hope they will address issues at
places like Camp Pendleton and Fort Bragg.”
Camp Pendleton's units have gone through two major rounds of deployment
to Iraq, and some of them have served four tours of war duty in recent
years. Their most recent wave, which largely ended last month, involved
more than 25,000 Marines and sailors.
Once service members leave the military, they usually receive two years
of free care from the Veterans Affairs system. The concept of creating
specialized centers for certain medical conditions also has been
discussed in the VA system.
There's a great need to not only train more people in the best ways to
treat mental disorders such as PTSD, but also for research to find
better therapies, said Jeffrey L. Matloff, former program director of
the PTSD team at the San Diego VA Healthcare System in La Jolla.
“The ideal is to have education and dissemination of information so that
we're all up to speed on the latest interventions and techniques, so
people at Balboa naval hospital are practicing the same state-of-the-art
care” as clinicians at the VA hospital, he said.
Staff writer Cheryl Clark contributed to this report.
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212;
rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
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Larry Scott --
