OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson

Date: May 24, 2006
Issues: Veterans Health and Health Care


May 24, 2006

R. James Nicholson
Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20420

Secretary Nicholson:

I recently read an article in Psychiatric News that leads me to believe the Department of Veterans Affairs is unprepared to serve the mental health care needs of our nation's veterans.

The article reads as follows:

"Frances Murphy, M.D., undersecretary for Health Policy Coordination at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), said the growing numbers of veterans seeking mental health care has put emphasis on areas in which improvement is needed. She noted that some VA clinics do not provide mental health or substance abuse care, or if they do, ‘waiting lists render that care virtually inaccessible.'"

As you know, access to mental health services is vital to America's veterans. The VA must ensure that resources are available to them whether facing challenges from PTSD and depression or other ailments. If we fail to provide these men and women with the care they need, we will set our nation up for the future cost and complications of veterans struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness and other conditions.

In addition, with an estimated one third of the 1.3 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan facing mental health challenges upon their return, I am concerned that they are not getting the services they need. It is unacceptable that they are encountering VA waiting lists that render mental health care "virtually inaccessible."

You have told me time and time again that your agency has the funding necessary to provide care for our veterans. Although I continue to doubt the VA's ability to adequately budget based on real numbers, you insist that my fears are misplaced. And you have assured me that veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are getting the services they need. Undersecretary Murphy says the opposite is true.

I would like the VA to provide a report of the number of veterans requiring mental health services from the VA and what number of those requests are being filled. Furthermore, I want to know what it will take to eliminate barriers to mental health services for our veterans. Not providing needed mental health services to our veterans is simply unacceptable.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray
United States Senator

http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=256085

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