At-risk veterans need help on suicide, senators say

WASHINGTON — Veterans at risk of suicide have to wait too long to get mental health treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs, senators said Wednesday at a hearing to learn how to stem the rising number of suicides.

"We cannot have someone call in for an appointment and have to wait five weeks to get help," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told VA representatives. "The VA has to start planning and requesting necessary resources now."

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at a higher risk for suicide than the general U.S. population, said Harold Kudler, the chief mental health services consultant for the VA's Health Administration.

The number of veterans receiving specialized mental health treatment from the VA has increased each year, from 927,052 in 2006 to more than 1.4 million in 2013.

The VA has 150 medical centers, 820 community outpatient clinics, 300 vet centers for counseling, a crisis line and staff at colleges and university across the country. It still needs more, Kudler told the members of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

"The best way we are able to reach out to people are to make more access points available," Kudler said.

Something must be missing in the care the veterans receive for them to keep committing suicide at record numbers, senators told Kudler.

"They use your services — they're at your door, and they are committing suicide at a higher rate," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

About 22 veterans commit suicide each day, VA records show, and they remain a higher risk of suicide than members of the general population.

"Our son is a casualty of war," said Valerie Pallotta, mother of Joshua Pallotta, a National Guard combat veteran who committed suicide Sept. 23. "I was told he died from a self-inflicted wound, but I knew it was from PTSD."

Monday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention bill, an attempt to improve VA's suicide-prevention efforts.

The bill would require VA and the Pentagon to submit to an independent review of all of their suicide-prevention programs. It calls for the creation of a website to inform veterans of the mental health services available to them.

Clay Hunt, a former Marine who committed suicide in 2011, sought treatment for PTSD when he returned from combat. His mother, Susan Selke, told the panel that the search for Hunt's medical records was "chaotic," and her son had to wait too long to get help in person or over the phone.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., agreed.

"Mental health services and suicide prevention is a critical need," Heller said. "We have to do more to improve the system."