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ST. CLOUD VA SAYS THEY HAVE ENOUGH ROOM FOR ALL
MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS -- Investigation
underway
when vet commits suicide after being denied
care.
Jonathan Schulze
Background on the Jonathan Schulze
suicide here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfJAN07/nf012707-8.htm
And, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI),
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs has called for an
investigation into the matter. That here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/scva07/scva013107-1.htm
It appears that the VA is "circling the
wagons"...and claiming "all is well." Do we expect anything less?
Keep your eye on this story. It is
key to the major issues of underfunding and understaffing at the VA.
Story here...
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070202/
NEWS01/102010077
Story below:
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St. Cloud VA conducts internal review
By Benjamin Malakoff,
bmalakoff@stcloudtimes.com
The St. Cloud VA Medical Center has enough capacity to handle incoming
mentally ill veterans, and immediate changes to its mental health
programs are not expected, officials said this week.
The hospital is conducting an internal review in response to one
family's statements about a former U.S. Marine who committed suicide
Jan. 16 in New Prague. St. Cloud VA officials would not comment on the
case specifically.
The parents of Iraq veteran Jonathan Schulze have said he told St. Cloud
VA mental health workers he was suicidal but was not admitted for
treatment. They said Schulze was told there was a waiting list. The
suicide has triggered local and national inquiries as well as response
from elected officials and support for the VA.
There are several circumstances in which people who are not admitted to
a VA facility might harm themselves or others later, said Dr. Sherrie
Herendeen, line director for mental health services at the St. Cloud VA.
Those include a lack of information from a patient or a turn of events
after a patient's visit.
"There are times when we don't always have all the information or the
situation changes," Herendeen said. "We have the services in place. We
can give the public assurances."
Herendeen said any veteran who presents signs of danger to himself or
herself or others would be assessed and admitted if needed.
The St. Cloud VA has been expanding its mental health services in the
past several years.
It has a 15-bed, locked inpatient unit for the most acutely troubled
mental health patients.
No patient needing that level of service is denied entry, VA Public
Affairs Officer Joan Vincent said.
If the unit is full, patients are taken to the Minneapolis VA Medical
Center or other facilities. The St. Cloud unit had an average of 10.8
patients per day in January.
The St. Cloud VA also offers 133 beds of housing for patients in a
hotel-like setting, Vincent said. The housing allows them to receive
more care, but they can come and go.
There was a 21-person waiting list earlier this week for housing,
Vincent said. The VA has shifted its mental health treatment approach to
a mostly outpatient model to keep patients functioning at the highest
possible level, Herendeen said.
The number of acute mental health beds has shrunk from 195 in 1995 to
15. The VA recently received approval to add two mental health outreach
coordinators to serve Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
So far, the St. Cloud VA has seen 1,380 veterans from fighting in Iraq
and Afghanistan for all types of care. Eleven have been inpatients.
About 29 percent of the 1,380 veterans have received some kind of mental
health care, Vincent said.
The VA also has increased one-on-one contact between veterans and mental
health workers, as well as treatment groups, Vincent said.
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Larry Scott --
