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Bay Pines VA committed to ending suicide among veterans

Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte Florida Weekly - 6/22/2017

COMMENTARY

BY SUZANNE KLINKER

Special to Florida Weekly

On May 31, Veterans Administration Secretary David Shulkin delivered his first "State of the VA" address highlighting the activity and direction of the agency since his appointment in February. The address covered a wide range of topics, including health-care access, community care and the Veterans Choice Program, accountability and the quality of care provided to veterans. In addition, he identified multiple agency-wide priorities, such as reducing backlogs and getting more veterans access to mental health care and suicide prevention programs.

While all of the priorities mentioned are important, I am writing today with a focus on suicide prevention.

Suicide among veterans is a sad and heartbreaking reality that occurs in every state, county, city and town across the country. Recent research suggests that 20 veterans die by suicide each day, of which six were users of VA services. This information is important as it shows that veterans who actively engage in services provided by VA are less likely to commit suicide than those who are not.

One suicide is one too many. The VA and our partners, communities, families and friends must do better on behalf of those who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy. It is simply not tolerable or right to accept the status quo. We must work harder together to expand available resources and access to vital mental health care services, create safety networks, educate and inform, eliminate bureaucracy and barriers and intervene as appropriate to prevent suicides.

This is not just the responsibility of our health-care system or the VA at large. It is everyone's responsibility.

We are very committed to suicide prevention. In addition to the large number of mental health professionals who we employ across the health-care system, we have a suicide prevention team dedicated to facilitating prompt delivery of care and responsiveness as well as to monitoring veterans identified at high risk of suicide through innovative new programs like Recovery Engagement and Coordination for Health?Veterans Enhanced Treatment, and providing ongoing staff training.

Using a new predictive model, REACH?VET analyzes existing data from veterans' health records to identify those at a statistically elevated risk for suicide, hospitalization, illness or other adverse outcomes. This allows us to provide preemptive care and support, in some cases before a veteran even has suicidal thoughts.

Another important resource for veterans is the Veterans Crisis Line. Veterans and those who know of a veteran in crisis can call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, chat online at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net or send a text message to 838255 to receive free, confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, even if they are not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care.

Veteran suicide touches everyone: families, friends, communities, first responders and those of us at VA. I invite you to join me and other Bay Pines leaders for a veterans town hall meeting from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, where we as a community will address ways we can improve our suicide prevention efforts. The event will take place at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Bay Pines.

In the meantime, if you know any veterans who need our help, please help us help them by connecting them with us. Whether through routine mental health appointments, visits to the emergency department or telephone care through the Veterans Crisis Line, we do our very best to address any and all mental health needs, urgent and routine. Thank you for your commitment to the health and well-being of America's heroes. ¦

- Suzanne Klinker is director of the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. The fifth busiest VA health- care system in the country, Bay Pines provides care for more than 108,000 veterans in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.