New Law Increases Mental Health Personnel at VA Facilities

the Psychiatry Advisor take:

More mental health clinicians will work in Veterans Administration (VA) medical facilities following legislation President Obama signed last month instituting major reforms to the troubled system.

Part of the $16 billion allocated in the law will provide incentives for the VA to hire more psychiatrists and other mental health support staff. Also, the cap on medical school debt repayment under the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program would double from $60,000 to $120,000, Psychiatric News reported.

Graduate medical residency positions at the VA will increase by up to 1,500 over a five-year period, with slots in primary care, mental health and other specialties given preference.

“In 2012, the VA Office of the Inspector General identified recruiting and retaining psychiatrists as the VA’s greatest challenge in the mental health area,” American Psychiatric Association President Paul Summergrad, MD, in a statement. “This legislation puts in place several actions to directly address that shortage and will result in many more veterans having timely access to needed psychiatric services.”

The law’s other provisions include ways for veterans who live more than 40 miles from a VA facility or who can’t get an appointment within 30 days to obtain care from doctors or hospitals that are not part of the VA system.