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New vet centers
scheduled to open
(June 2008
Issue)
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As thousands of troops return from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan,
the need for mental health services has increased exponentially.
From posttraumatic stress disorder to anxiety and depression to
difficulty in reinserting themselves into their lives, many of
the men and women who served their country have come home in need
of care.
In order to address the increasing need for mental health and
readjustment services offered to veterans, the Department of Veterans
Affairs recently announced plans to open 23 new walk-in vet centers
across the country. Twenty of these centers, including one in Hyannis,
Mass., were opened in 2007. The other three, including one opened
last month in Berlin, N.H., are on schedule to open this year.
The new centers were chosen to help expand the network of aid for
veterans, to bring care closer to their homes. The Hyannis center
extends services to Cape Cod. In New Hampshire, the new center will
cover the northern tier of the state, as well as the northwest section
of Maine and the northern section of Vermont.
"Bringing a Vet Center to Berlin takes an important step in the
ongoing effort to improve services for North Country veterans and
their families," says Senator John E. Sununu (R-N.H.), "When this
facility opens its doors, veterans who otherwise might have to travel
to Manchester for counseling will be able to receive care much closer
to home."
The Veterans Administration created the first vet centers in 1979
as an alternative outreach program for Vietnam veterans who had
become disenfranchised with the bureaucratic system of the larger
VA medical system. "The idea was to offer them something very 'store
front,'" says Deborah Warner, Ph.D., the director of the Berlin
Vet Center. "They are a place where people can come in and talk
candidly about what they are dealing with and there are people there
who can help."
The new centers join the 209 sites already spread across the country.
Designed to provide community-based care, the centers offer a variety
of mental health services including screening, treatment for posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), and bereavement counseling as well as assistance
with employment, finding housing or shelters and other social services.
"We act as an ombudsman for veterans, to help them navigate the
system," Warner says.
To make the centers more accessible to vets, there is no charge
for services for qualified vets - any veteran who was stationed
in a war zone, even if he or she was not actively engaged in combat.
(A Senate bill was introduced in May that would extend services
to active duty troops as well).
"The motto of the vet centers is, 'help without the hassle.' There
is very little red tape," says Warner. "We tell them that they have
already paid for their services, through their service to their
country."
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