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S. HRG. 110–281

SERVING PATRIOTS AND HEROES:

ENSURING HEALTH AND HEALING FOR OUR

NATION’S VETERANS

FIELD HEARING

BEFORE THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

PORTLAND, OR

JULY 3, 2007

Serial No. 110–11

Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin, Chairman 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas 

EVAN BAYH, Indiana 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York 

KEN SALAZAR, Colorado 

ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania 

CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

GORDON SMITH, Oregon 

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama 

SUSAN COLLINS, Maine 

MEL MARTINEZ, Florida 

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho 

ELIZABETH DOLE, North Carolina 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

BOB CORKER, Tennessee 

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania 

DEBRA WHITMAN, Staff Director 

CATHERINE FINLEY, Ranking Member Staff Director 

(II) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Opening Statement of Senator Gordon Smith ....................................................... 1

Opening Statement of Senator Ron Wyden ........................................................... 3

PANEL I 

Antonette Zeiss, deputy chief consultant, Office of Mental Health Services, 

Veterans Administration, Washington, DC ....................................................... 4

Jack Heims, administrative director, Mental Health and Neuroscience Division, Veterans Administration, Portland, OR .................................................... 18

PANEL II 

Nathalie Huguet, research associate, Portland State University Center for 

Public Health Studies, Portland, OR .................................................................. 26

Ed Blackburn, deputy director, Central City Concern, Portland, OR ................. 37

Joseph Reiley, veterans service coordinator, Lane County, OR .......................... 50

Keven Campbell, coordinator, Eastern Oregon Human Services Consortium, 

The Dalles, OR ..................................................................................................... 61

Stuart Steinberg, executive director, Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, 

Crooked River Ranch, OR .................................................................................... 68

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statement of Senator Robert P. Casey .................................................. 79

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Jack Heims ................................. 80

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Nathalie Huguet ......................... 80

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Mr. Blackburn ............................ 80

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Mr. Reiley ................................... 81

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Kevin Campbell .......................... 83

Responses to Senator Smith’s Questions from Stu Steinberg .............................. 84

(III) 

(1)

SERVING PATRIOTS AND HEROES: ENSURING 

HEALTH AND HEALING FOR OUR NATION’S 

VETERANS 

TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007 

U.S. SENATE, 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, 

Portland, OR 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in the auditorium of the Veterans Administration Hospital, 3710 S.W. U.S. Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR (Hon. Gordon H. Smith, Ranking Member of the Committee) presiding. 

Present: Senators Smith and Wyden. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR GORDON H. SMITH, 

RANKING MEMBER 

Senator SMITH. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf 

of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, we welcome you 

to this official hearing that we have entitled, ‘‘Serving Patriots and 

Heroes: Ensuring Health and Healing for our Nation’s Veterans.’’ 

I would say that Ron and I come here as Oregon Senators, but 

we also come with a common concern, as a Republican and as a 

Democrat, for our Nation’s veterans, particularly as it relates to 

issues of mental health, issues that both his family and mine have 

been touched by. So mental health is a cause of the heart for both 

of us. 

I think because it is also the eve of the Fourth of July, we feel 

to wish you all a happy Fourth and a happy birthday to our Country. I am reminded of the noble words of Abraham Lincoln in his 

second inaugural address, when he spoke to the ongoing need that 

our Nation would have to ‘‘bind up the wounds of him who shall 

have borne the battle and of his widow and his orphan.’’ That is 

the spirit we come here in today. 

Now, I have a prepared statement that I need to deliver to you. 

I hope you find it just spellbinding. [Laughter.] 

But it is important because it needs to be on the record of the 

U.S. Senate. Then I will turn the time to my esteemed colleague. 

Ensuring proper physical and mental health care for our Nation’s 

veterans, both old and young, is essential. In addition to the work 

we will do here today, I will also be meeting with facility and community mental health professionals as well as veterans’ advocates 

at the V.A. facility in White City on Thursday. 

I will use the information we gather here today and Thursday to 

hold a follow-up hearing in Washington, DC, later this summer so 

2

that my colleagues in Congress can also benefit from the expertise 

and the many recommendations I have already heard today but 

which we will hear again from our witnesses that come from these 

events we are conducting. 

While we hear many news reports on the mental state of new 

veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, which I believe our 

Government must do a better job in addressing, we cannot forget 

the mental health care needs of our aging veterans. 

What we now refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder was once 

described as ‘‘soldier’s heart’’ in the Civil War, ‘‘shell shock’’ in 

World War I, and ‘‘combat fatigue’’ in World War II. Whatever the 

name, they are serious mental illnesses and deserve equal attention and care as a physical wound. 

In recent reports, we have heard that 20 to 40 service men and 

women are evacuated each month from Iraq due to mental health 

problems. In addition to those who are identified, there are many 

more who will return home after their service to face readjustment 

challenges. Some will need appropriate mental health care to help 

them adjust back to normal life, while others will need medical assistance to heal more serious PTSD issues. Yet others will need 

help to mentally cope with their physical wounds. 

A system must be in place to help our veterans as they adjust 

back to life with their families and within their communities. For 

this reason, I have introduced a bill entitled the ‘‘Heroes Helping 

Heroes Act’’ in the Senate to provide funding for peer support programs so that trained veterans can help returning veterans navigate the sometimes perilous adjustment process. 

So many of our veterans from previous conflicts, such as World 

War II, Korea, and Vietnam, needed similar programs when they 

returned home, yet I am sorry to say we didn’t do enough to help 

them. With proper and early support systems in place, we can work 

to prevent more serious and chronic mental health issues that 

come from a lack of intervention. 

I also look forward to working with Senator Wyden on developing 

legislation to help combat the problems we see plaguing our mental 

health system for veterans. I look forward to working with the V.A. 

as well as veterans’ service organizations, community groups and, 

most importantly, the veterans themselves to develop thoughtful 

legislation that ensures not only new veterans are being served but 

those who served us in the past are not forgotten. 

Recent reports, including a thoughtful and informative series 

done by The Washington Post, have highlighted ways we can and 

must improve the current mental health system for our veterans. 

Lack of culturally sensitive mental health professionals, inability 

to reach rural areas, stigma within the military, bureaucratic runarounds, and long waiting times are just a few of the problems that 

we hear about both in the news and directly from veteran constituents. 

These are problems that must be addressed and can only be addressed if we all work together to find solutions. 

I am also anxiously awaiting a report from the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, 

chaired by former Senator and World War II veteran Bob Dole and 

3

former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services 

Donna Shalala. 

In March of this year, I sent a letter to the commission asking 

that they give an equal review of mental health services as they 

do for physical health services. With the report expected to come 

out in mid-July, I hope that we can use their recommendations for 

thoughtful improvement. 

I hope that the commission recognizes that we cannot afford another generation of soldiers who lack appropriate support for 

health and healing of their physical and mental wounds. 

The Senate Special Committee on Aging has a long and distinguished history of leading the Senate on issues of great importance 

to our aging population. We have an opportunity today to focus on 

the ongoing and critical needs of our new and aging veterans and 

their mental health needs. 

As our Country faces new waves of veterans with mental health 

illnesses, many of whose issues arise from combat stress, we must 

ensure that we learn from the lessons of the past. We must ensure 

that they are cared for, and we must not leave behind those who 

fought for our Nation in previous generations. 

With that, I thank you for your attention, and turn the mike to 

my friend, my colleague, Ron Wyden. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RON WYDEN 

Senator WYDEN. I thank you, Senator Smith. You said it very 

well. I know time is short, and I think what I will do, Madam Recorder, is I will make my especially profound prepared statement 

part of your hearing transcript. 

I thought Senator Smith said it very well. Let me make just a 

couple of points by way of supplementing his remarks. 

Back in April and May, I essentially went to all of the major veteran facilities in our State, systematically went through the State 

from La Grande, Bend, the valley, here, and the message I got was 

pretty consistent all across the State. The message that I got is 

that care is very, very good—if our veterans can get it. 

It really comes down to a question of funding to a great extent, 

in Oregon; that there are scores of dedicated doctors and hospitals 

and nurses doing an incredible job, but still we have a lot of folks 

falling between the cracks. I see some of you who give the care nodding in the audience. 

So I have supported ‘‘The Independent Budget,’’ which is the 

budget proposed by all the veterans groups, and I have supported 

what is called mandatory funding, so that we can get veterans 

funding off this roller coaster. It shouldn’t be subject to the whims 

of the annual budget cycle. There ought to be mandatory funding 

so that we say if you are serious about taking care of the needs of 

our veterans, that the funding should be mandatory. 

The reason I feel so strongly about that is that ultimately much 

of the decisionmaking in the U.S. Senate—and we do ours in a bipartisan way—comes down to choices, and it comes down to priorities. 

This Congress, for example, has been willing to allow more than 

$10 billion in subsidies to major oil companies—not the small companies, not the independent companies, but the major companies. 

4

When you make cutbacks in that area—and the President of the 

United States, to his credit, says oil companies don’t need subsidies 

when the price of oil is over $50 a barrel—you make cuts there, 

and it directly relates to having additional funding available to cut 

the wait times, to cut the lines for mental health services, and all 

the areas that Gordon has laid out very well. 

I will tell you that getting this funding is not an abstract issue. 

Much of what I saw on this tour just struck me as unconscionable. 

For example, in central Oregon, in 2007, we have our veterans 

sleeping in the woods. That is what the veterans told me. 

There are a couple of them who run a terrific outreach program. 

We have got one of them right here in the front row. 

Just think about that. In a Country as good and rich and strong 

as ours, for veterans who serve our Country with such valor and 

distinction, our friend in the front row has to run a program to 

reach out to veterans in central Oregon who certainly are in need 

of mental health services and a variety of others in order to try and 

get them decent health care. 

That is not acceptable to anybody. That is not a Democratic 

issue. That is not a Republican issue. That is a question of our values and our choices. 

So we anxiously await your testimony and your input. 

Gordon, I look forward to working with you on this. 

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Senator Wyden. 

We appreciate our witnesses, one of whom has come a long, long 

way to be here, all the way over the Oregon Trail from Washington, DC., Dr. Antonette Zeiss, who is the deputy chief consultant, the Office of Mental Health Services within the Veterans Administration. She is going to tell us the work they are doing to try 

to meet this great challenge. 

Then Mr. Jack Heims, who is our second witness, he works at 

the V.A. center here in Portland. He is the administrative director 

of the Mental Health and Neuroscience Division. I know that our 

facility here in Portland has a number of innovative programs, and 

we look forward to hearing about your approaches to these issues. 

So, Dr. Zeiss, why don’t we start with you? 

STATEMENT OF ANTONETTE ZEISS, DEPUTY CHIEF CONSULTANT, OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, VETERANS 

ADMINISTRATION, WASHINGTON, DC 

Dr. ZEISS. Thank you. Very glad to be here. 

Is the microphone on? 

Senator SMITH. Can you hear? Yes. Just talk close to it. 

Dr. ZEISS. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the 

committee. I am pleased to be here today to discuss how the Department of Veterans Affairs is addressing the mental health care 

needs of our Nation’s veterans. 

V.A. provides mental health services to veterans in all our patient care centers. General and geriatric mental health services are 

being integrated into primary care clinics, V.A. nursing homes, and 

residential care facilities where many veterans receive mental 

health care. 

5

Veterans with a serious mental health illness are seen in specialized programs, such as mental health intensive case management, 

day centers, work programs, and social rehabilitation. 

V.A. employs full- and part-time psychiatrists and psychologists 

who work in collaboration with social workers, mental health 

nurses, counselors, rehabilitation specialists, and other clinicians to 

provide a full continuum of care for mental health services for veterans. 

We have seen returning veterans from prior eras through to the 

current Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom 

conflict who have injuries of the mind and spirit as well as the 

body. 

From these veterans we have learned that mental disorders can 

increase the risk for certain physical illnesses and vice versa. Our 

goal is to treat a veteran as a whole patient, to treat a patient’s 

physical illnesses as well as any mental disorders he or she may 

be facing. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, has been the focus of national interest as it relates to not only veterans of past combat 

service but also our current returning veterans. V.A. provides a full 

range of services related to PTSD as well as other military-related 

readjustment problems, along with the treatment of the physical 

wounds of war, in its continuum of health care programs. 

Our mental health services are provided in all V.A. medical facilities. This may include in-patient and outpatient services and related services in the area of substance abuse. 

Moreover, V.A.’s Vet Centers provide counseling and readjustment services to returning combat veterans and, in some cases, 

their family members in the community setting. Vet Centers provide an alternative to traditional access for veterans who may be 

reluctant to come to medical centers and clinics. 

V.A. plans to expand its Vet Center program. We will open 15 

new Vet Centers and eight new Vet Center outstations at locations 

throughout the Nation by the end of 2008, and seven of them will 

open this year, in 2007. 

In addition, V.A. provides services for homeless veterans, the 

ones living out in the woods, including transitional housing, paired 

with services to address social, vocational, and mental health problems associated with homelessness. 

Care for OEF/OIF veterans is among the highest priorities in our 

mental health care system. Since the start of combat, 686,306 service members have been discharged and become eligible for V.A. 

care, and of those 33 percent have sought V.A. care. 

Among those returning veterans, mental health problems are the 

second most commonly reported health concerns, with almost 37 

percent reporting symptoms suggesting a possible mental health diagnosis. That is almost 84,000 veterans to date. 

The diagnosis of PTSD topped the list for possible mental health 

diagnoses, but close behind were problem drinking and use of 

drugs without addiction and oppressive disorders. So it is not just 

PTSD; we need to respond to the whole array of mental health 

problems. 

V.A. data show that the proportion of new veterans, newly returning veterans, who are seeking V.A. care and who have a posVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Feb 12, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40409.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
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sible mental health problem has been increasing over the past 2 

years. For example, the proportion with possible mental health 

problems at the end of fiscal year 2005 was 31 percent, and now, 

in the most recent report in April 2007, it had risen to 37 percent. 

PTSD diagnoses during this same timeframe went from 13 percent 

to 17 percent. 

There are many possible explanations of this increase: extended 

deployments, more difficult combat circumstances, but also effective screening and outreach efforts and the positive impact of efforts to destigmatize seeking mental health services. 

Whatever the reasons for the increase, we need to follow closely 

that there is an increase and devote increased resources to serve 

these mental health needs. 

Funding resources are currently available for a V.A. Mental 

Health Initiative that supports implementation of our comprehensive mental health strategic plan based on the President’s New 

Freedom Commission on Mental Health. 

The plan recognizes that the ongoing war effort necessitates special attention to the needs of returning veterans, and we have improved capacity and access using our funding. We have hired over 

3,000 new mental health professionals to date, since the spring of 

2005, and there are more in the pipeline to be hired. 

Senator SMITH. Are you hiring them from outside? Current mental health professionals, you are hiring them into the V.A. system? 

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. Yes. 

Senator SMITH. What are you doing to get them to remain? 

Dr. ZEISS. We have not had a problem with people leaving V.A. 

once they have been hired. There have been some problems within 

the Department of Defense, but we actually have a good retention 

record. 

We have recently gone through the conversion of psychology and 

some of the other professions to hybrid Title 38, which I think is 

also having some positive impact on retention. There has been the 

Physician’s Pay Bill, which has increased pay for physicians. 

So Congress has served us well in passing legislation that has 

helped with retention of staff in V.A. We have been quite successful 

in recruiting such a large number of new staff in the last 2 years. 

We have an extensive recruitment and retention program. 

Those 3,000 professionals have funded a wide variety of programs: community-based outpatient clinics, so that we can get onsite staffing out to more rural areas. We are expanding tele-mental-health services to reach more rural veterans. 

We have enhanced PTSD, homelessness, and substance abuse 

care and programs that recognize the common co-occurrence of 

these problems. We are fostering integration of mental health and 

primary care in medical facility clinics and in the care of homebound veterans served by V.A.’s home-based primary care program. 

We have mental health staff well-integrated into the polytrauma 

care sites, and we have increased the number of staff in our Vet 

Centers, establishing outreach counselors, many of whom are global war on terror veterans themselves. 

Very importantly, focusing on concerns about suicide in veterans, 

we have funded a suicide prevention coordinator in every V.A. medical facility. A national hotline for suicide prevention will soon be 

7

available. V.A. staff are being educated about this valuable tool 

and how veterans will be able to access it. 

In addition, V.A. sponsored its first Suicide Prevention Awareness Day, which included every V.A. facility, and this is going to 

be an annual event with, again, a national push and planned local 

activities. 

We continue to promote early recognition of mental health problems, with a goal of making evidence-based treatments available 

early. Veterans are routinely screened in primary care for PTSD, 

depression, substance abuse, traumatic brain injury, and military 

sexual trauma. 

When there is a positive screen, patients are further evaluated 

and, when indicated, they are referred to a mental health provider 

for follow-up. 

Screening for this broad array of mental health problems helps 

support effective identification of veterans needing mental health 

services, and it promotes our suicide-prevention efforts, a major 

priority for V.A. 

Our goal is to make the point that in V.A., suicide prevention is 

everyone’s business, not just that of our mental health providers. 

Everyone who comes into contact with our veterans and their families plays an important part. 

I think that covers my comments, and I want to thank you 

again——

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Doctor. 

Dr. ZEISS.—for having me here. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Zeiss follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Very excellent. 

You heard me in my opening statement refer to this Washington 

Post article. 

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. 

Senator SMITH. Have you read that? 

Dr. ZEISS. I have. 

Senator SMITH. It certainly represented that there was a serious 

backlog related to mental health issues. Would you dispute that? 

Dr. ZEISS. The backlog that was described I would argue was 

very much about the Veterans Benefits Administration side of the 

house. 

Senator SMITH. Not the mental health aspect? 

Dr. ZEISS. Not the direct provision of mental health care and access. 

One of the things that I felt really moved by in the story of the 

woman veteran—not everyone got to the end of the story. The last 

sentence was, ‘‘V.A. saved my life.’’ She talked about how meaningful the in-patient program they had was, even though she had complained about some aspects of it being boring. She said it was the 

right thing and offered the right program. 

Then she got to a specialized women’s program with the latest 

evidence-based care for PTSD for women, and it has turned her life 

around. 

Senator SMITH. If you had two or three suggestions that Senator 

Wyden and I could achieve for you in Congress, what you need, 

what would they be? 

Dr. ZEISS. Well, we have been really encouraged by the tremendous support for mental health. I have never in my professional 

life, of many years now, seen a time when there was so much bipartisan support for really caring about the mental health of our 

veterans. 

We need this to remain a priority throughout the conflict and to 

recognize that many veterans will not begin to have significant 

mental health problems until several years after the end of the conflict. So we need to build a system that can be sustained. 

Senator SMITH. OK. You have participated in the roundtable I 

had before this. 

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. 

Senator SMITH. You heard over and over again that in the—not 

the Guard and Reserve, but in the professional military, there is 

a machismo as part of the warrior ethic that is taught. The comment was made that that is necessary to do what they have to do, 

apparently. 

But I wonder, when they go through that and they come home 

and they are suffering psychological setbacks from what they have 

had to do, I am wondering if there is not, with that warrior ethic, 

a stigma against people admitting that they have serious issues 

and that that is somehow professionally held against them. 

Are you familiar with that? Do you believe that is true? What 

can we, as lawmakers, do to remedy that? 

Dr. ZEISS. Well, I won’t speak for what happens in DOD. I have 

certainly seen some evidence of that. But, you know, the speaker 

was talking particularly about the Department of Defense. 

13

I think there are two things that are really important. One is 

continuing to really make the distinction between Department of 

Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and that when 

people come to seek care at V.A., it is not going back to any command structure, it is not having any impact on their military career, including if they seek care between deployments when they 

are Reserve and Guard. 

We need to really protect that and help people feel confident that 

their care in V.A. will respond to——

Senator SMITH. Are there any impediments to your protecting 

that confidentiality? 

Dr. ZEISS. I don’t know that it is an impediment. There is much, 

much enthusiasm for a bidirectional, single medical record between 

V.A. and the Department of Defense. While there are many, many 

benefits to such a bidirectional record, in our Office of Mental 

Health Services—and the Under Secretary for Health has been 

supportive—we want to recognize that if a Guard or Reserve member comes to V.A. for mental health care during a time between deployments, that it is not automatically the case that it would be 

bidirectional; that all that information would go back. It would be 

treated differently in the Department of Defense than it would in 

V.A. 

If we have informed consent from that Guard or Reserve member, of course we would send the information. But we want to ensure the kind of confidentiality that you were hearing in the roundtable is so important to to these folks. 

Then the other thing is a national push for destigmatization of 

mental health problems, just as you are doing. We need total support with you. 

Senator SMITH. I don’t want to get in the way of military ethics 

to do their job, but I also want to say to our military professionals, 

end the stigma. Understand there are all kinds of wounds that 

come from war, and they should not be professional deterrents to 

healing. 

Dr. ZEISS. The other thing that we have tried to do, is more than 

V.A. has traditionally done for families, and of course we stay within our congressional authority in doing that, but we have funded—

there wasn’t time in the written testimony—but have funded family psychoeducation programs around mental health, family to-family training that is offered by the National Association for the Mentally Ill, and has been offered to some extent in V.A. 

We are looking at possible expansion of that. We are encouraging 

families to come in and be part of the evaluation and treatment 

planning process for returning veterans, again, within our congressional mandates. But we believe, as you heard in the roundtable, 

that reaching out and including families is very important for veterans’ care. 

Senator WYDEN. Mrs. Zeiss, thank you. 

I have a number of questions. 

Now, you state in your written testimony that the V.A. has plans 

to expand the Vet Center program and is going to open 15 new Vet 

Centers and eight new Vet Center outstations by the end of 2008. 

14

Now, in our State, we don’t have a Vet Center east of the Cascades. Can you lay out on the record the criteria and process the 

V.A. uses in determining where to open a new Vet Center? 

Dr. ZEISS. I can tell you who does lay out the process. The Vet 

Centers are not run through our office, the Office of Mental Health 

Services. They are a separate program of the Readjustment Counsel Services. 

Dr. Al Batres is the head of that, and he is currently guiding the 

process for making decisions about where those Vet Centers will be 

placed. I would be happy to get you in touch with him. 

Senator WYDEN. So your office, with respect to looking at Vet 

Center and Vet Centers needs, does what, if anything? 

Dr. ZEISS. At this point we don’t have things that our office does 

with Vet Centers. 

We have in planning the possibility of placing tele-mental-health 

equipment in the Vet Centers so that they can link to the medical 

facilities and receive more specialized mental health care from providers. 

The Vet Centers have traditionally offered counseling and supportive services, and this is an opportunity—again, if there are Vet 

Centers in some more rural areas—to get more partnership between the medical facilities and the Vet Centers. 

But our office really works with the medical facilities and the 

community-based outpatient clinics. 

Senator WYDEN. That really was my second area. So would you 

all have the authority, for example, to get into the communitybased outpatient clinics on tele-mental services? 

Essentially a fancy way of saying we are going to use modern 

technology, we are going to use computers, we are going to use 

phone networks in order to make it easier to compensate for distance. 

Do you have the authority to get into that? 

Dr. ZEISS. We not only have the authority, we are doing it. We 

have placed tele-mental-health equipment in many of the CBOCs, 

with planned rollout with anticipated fiscal year 2008 funding. To 

the rest, we have, then, in the medical facilities the tele-mentalhealth equipment. We have staff who are prepared to offer specialized mental health services. 

We also have placed mental health providers directly in the community-based outpatient clinics, but they are generalists, and when 

there is specialty care needed, we believe that tele-mental-health 

care is going to be——

Senator WYDEN. What do we need to do to convince you to expand services, particularly in central and eastern Oregon? I gather, 

from of your last answer, we would be talking about both the telemental services and practitioners? What we have in our State is a 

lot of veterans who simply cannot physically get to Portland——

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. 

Senator WYDEN [continuing]. Who find it hard to get to Walla 

Walla. I mean, we have just got scores of veterans falling between 

the cracks, and I don’t think we meet our obligation, particularly 

to older veterans, to let you walk out the door today without getting a commitment to expanding those services. 

15

Dr. ZEISS. Absolutely. I am very willing to go back. I brought 

with me a listing—I can provide to you, I have given to Senator 

Smith already—of what we have funded here in Oregon. I know 

that we have funded community-based outpatient clinic enhancement in Bend, in Salem, in Eugene, in Bandon and Brookings. I 

may be missing a couple. 

But that is not the whole State by a long shot. I lived in Oregon 

for 4 years. I went to graduate school here, and I know the State 

a bit. 

Senator SMITH. Are you a Duck or a Beaver? [Laughter.] 

Dr. ZEISS. A Duck. A Duck. Yes. 

There is much more to be done. There is a call for more community-based outpatient clinics to be developed. 

Again, our office supports the mental health component once the 

site is approved, but there is a broader approval because it needs 

to provide the whole spectrum of primary care services as well as 

mental health services. 

I am happy to work with you to try to ensure that Oregon services are considered, and I think there is a need. I certainly can 

make a commitment that if there are new community-based outpatient clinics approved, our office will find out about the staffing 

as well as tele-mental health. 

Senator WYDEN. What can we do so that over, say, the next 90 

days we can get you to specifically look at expanding services in 

Oregon and tell us whether or not you can do it? Certainly if not, 

why not? 

Because I can tell you, the need is just extraordinary out there. 

I know you mean well, and my constituents very much want to see, 

in the area of mental health services, particularly in rural Oregon, 

a commitment to expanding those services. 

So question one: Can you tell us over the next 90 days whether 

you will review those services, particularly in community-based 

outpatient clinics, which you do have jurisdiction over? 

Dr. ZEISS. Yes, I do. 

Senator WYDEN. Give us an assessment of whether or not you 

think expanded services are needed, in terms of practitioners and 

the technology, and whether or not you can deliver those services? 

Can you get that to us in the next 90 days? 

Dr. ZEISS. I can’t speak beyond the Mental Health Office. 

Senator WYDEN. That is what I am talking about. 

Dr. ZEISS. But I can certainly do it for the Mental Health Office. 

I can also say we are in the process of beginning to spend and 

making plans for rapidly spending the congressional supplemental 

budget, which is no year money, as you know, but we want to 

spend it as quickly as we can. 

One of the things we are looking at is purchasing or leasing more 

Government vehicles so that we could have circuit riders, so that 

people can go out more to provide services more broadly. I can commit to looking at what are we funding in Oregon in terms of the 

opportunities to get our current V.A. providers out into the communities more. 

I also can commit—one of our programs is the mental health intensive case management for veterans with serious mental illness, 

and we are currently piloting a rural model. It was originally develVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Feb 12, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40409.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
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oped for more areas that had higher concentration of veterans with 

serious mental illness, but we are piloting a rural model. 

I can go back and look at exactly what is under planning for Oregon and what ways we could expand the possibility of the mental 

health intensive case management for the rural areas. 

Senator WYDEN. That is constructive, and to have the assessment within 90 days so we can get a sense of what you make of 

the current situation, because I can tell you, our veterans consider 

it just very dire whether or not you can then expand services both 

with actual practitioners and with technology. 

It is also our job to make sure that you have adequate resources. 

But we are going to first need to get your specific assessment. I appreciate that commitment today, and I think the veterans all over 

our State do as well. 

One last question with respect to what steps the V.A. is taking 

to help veterans who have trouble physically traveling to V.A. facilities. In other words, one of the reasons I think veterans are falling between the cracks is that they simply cannot get to facilities. 

We are going to need help there. 

Mr. Chairman, I just realized I have one additional question. 

Senator SMITH. Go ahead. 

Senator WYDEN. Time is tight. 

Let’s get your views on help for veterans who are having difficulty traveling, physically traveling to V.A. facilities, and what 

additional steps the V.A. can take to help them. 

Dr. ZEISS. There are many reasons why they would have trouble, 

physically. 

I am going to start with the home-based primary care teams. I 

think this is a wonderful V.A. program. It provides medical care, 

nursing care, social services care to veterans who are homebound 

because of physical or mental health problems. 

The whole team will go out, one at a time, not en masse, to serve 

those veterans. There are programs all over the Country, there are 

programs here in Oregon. As I said in my written testimony, we 

have recently ensured that every single one of those teams has a 

mental health provider as well. 

But those are based in—you know, there are not going to be services that will be accessible to folks in eastern Oregon because the 

team is not out there. 

One of the things that we are trying to develop is a program 

called the Home Health Buddies, which are electronic devices that 

can be actually in the veteran’s home so they don’t have to travel. 

They can interact directly with their mental health care providers, 

and there is a parallel program for other physical health care. 

It has been deployed for many of the physical health care needs. 

I can’t speak to how broadly and how much there is in Oregon. We 

are trying to develop tools so that it could provide safe, effective 

care for mental health problems. We don’t want to place it in a 

home and promise care before we are confident that it really would 

meet the need and make that service available. 

Senator WYDEN. Make that part of your 90-day assessment as 

well, this question of what do you think the present system offers 

veterans who are having trouble getting assistance to physically 

17

travel to the V.A. facilities and what else you can do about it. Because that is also very much on the minds of veterans in our State. 

One last question that comes from, again, the visits I made in 

April and May. I get the sense that there is still a lot of confusion 

with respect to the record systems at V.A., the record systems of 

the DOD, particularly trying to integrate the computer systems 

and trying to make sure that information is exchanged quickly. 

In fact, up in Walla Walla, where there is a very talented administrator who came in and just started. The administrator talked 

about wanting to change the records. She said there was going to 

be a special effort made in that area. 

What do you think the implications are for mental health services, of veterans falling between the cracks, between the computers 

at V.A. and the computers at DOD? Do you think that is a problem? 

Dr. ZEISS. Well, I think the V.A. electronic medical record system 

is absolutely world-class. It has been recognized by the Harvard 

Business School as—received an award for excellence in government, has received many other awards. 

So I think the V.A. has a splendid record system in which mental 

health records are fully integrated to the overall——

Senator WYDEN. My question is something else. My question is: 

Do you think that there is a problem coordinating the system at 

V.A. and the system in DOD? If you do, what do you think ought 

to be done? 

Dr. ZEISS. Well, I think I spoke to that a bit earlier. I think that 

it is true that they are not fully coordinated and bidirectional. I 

would like the initial push to be on ensuring that the DOD records 

can be made available to V.A. when someone is leaving the military 

and coming to V.A. I think that would increase our capacity to 

serve veterans. I would like to see there be continued effort to ensure that. 

I do have some concern about the concept that it should be completely bidirectional without the consent of the person who comes 

to us in a civilian capacity but then might return to the military. 

Senator WYDEN. I would like to follow that up with you, because 

I think you touched on a couple of the key areas of change. Certainly it ought to ensure that the patients control their records. 

When you think about veterans’ health care, if ever there was a 

group in this Country that deserved to control their records——

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. 

Senator WYDEN [continuing]. It is our courageous veterans and 

those who serve their Country. But we have got to do a better job 

of sharing information between the V.A. and the DOD. Call up that 

new administrator in Walla Walla, because I am telling you, I 

think she is going to go gangbusters on this. 

Dr. ZEISS. Yes. 

Senator SMITH. I think she is here. 

Dr. ZEISS. I met her. 

Senator WYDEN. Great. There she is. 

Just talk to her after you are done testifying, because she has 

got it. She is on it. 

Senator SMITH. Jack Heims. Thank you. 

18

STATEMENT OF JACK HEIMS, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, 

MENTAL HEALTH AND NEUROSCIENCE DIVISION, VETERANS 

ADMINISTRATION, PORTLAND, OR 

Mr. HEIMS. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Senator Wyden. 

Thank you for this opportunity to share in this strong work of our 

employees to improve mental health services to our veterans. We 

know of your strong support and interest in mental health issues. 

My comments will focus on efforts of the catchment areas of the 

Portland V.A. Medical Center and on behalf of Operation Enduring 

Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, returning veterans who 

have served primarily in the National Guard. 

We play a significant role in co-leading Oregon’s post-deployment 

integration effort with the National Guard. We worked cooperatively in compiling and keeping current a comprehensive resource 

directory Website to orient them to our services and to our materials. 

Semiannually we have co-led summits of 85 leaders of various 

agencies and community agencies to help in all aspects of veterans’ 

re-entry into civilian and community life. This model, I am proud 

to say, has received national recognition from both the V.A. and the 

National Guard. 

We have held training conferences that highlight community integration processes with family organizations and with veterans 

themselves. 

Portland Medical Center also participates in the 90-day post-deployment health reassessment sessions. At Canby conference 

grounds, we have held two family weekend retreats, complete with 

child care, focusing specifically on the impact of combat veteran 

service as it relates to family issues. 

Military sexual trauma program is coordinated with our primary 

care service, and we have presented training on this and other reintegration issues for 200 community mental health and primary 

care providers. 

Most of our previous knowledge on traumatic brain injury care 

has been gained from sports injuries and auto accidents. Now, however, we are learning more as we treat injuries received because of 

blast events in combat. These issues may be coupled with other 

traumatic injuries. To deal with these specialized injuries, we have 

added an additional neuropsychologist to our staff. 

We have been meeting the mental health needs of rural veterans 

for more than 10 years through our services at outpatient clinics 

in Salem, Bend, and Warrenton. We have added a part-time therapist at Warm Springs Indian Reservation. 

I might add the Walla Walla facility is opening a CBOC, community-based outpatient clinic, in La Grande, as far east in eastern 

Oregon as you can get. It is little, and it is mandated. 

Senator SMITH. You can actually get to Ontario. [Laughter.] 

Mr. HEIMS. Actually, Ontario has served as a——

Senator SMITH. Idaho? 

Mr. HEIMS [continuing]. Understood—as a Boise traveling road 

show. 

In addition, a new initiative involving tele-psychiatry will provide our outlying clinics with the ability to pull in subspecialty expertise such as substance abuse and PTSD in these locations. 

19

We are pleased to share that the VISN has received funding for 

100 home-based v-tel setups, video-teleconferencing, so patients 

who live in rural areas or are incapacitated, as Senator Wyden indicated, can video-conference with their provider and obtain mental 

health care. 

Suicide has always been a major concern of Portland V.A. Medical Center due to the demographic of our veterans. Suicide risk increases with age. Our veteran population continues to age. We 

know that increased awareness of the possibility of suicide will lead 

not only to better identification of those who are at risk, but also 

improve our ability to implement appropriate suicide prevention 

treatments. 

We have five geriatric psychiatrists on staff for the aging population. This year, as Dr. Zeiss indicated, we have hired a full-time 

suicide prevention coordinator. With great pride, we can say our 

suicide screening program has been implemented at many sites nationally in the V.A. 

V.A. has mandated ready access to mental health treatment for 

our veterans. Portland Medical Center has 24-hours, 7-days-aweek, emergency coverage, a phone triage system, an acute interim 

care provision, immediate OEF/OIF access, and an evening clinic. 

We are restructuring to provide full diagnostic, evaluation, and 

treatment for all patients requesting or referred for mental health 

or substance abuse treatment. 

Portland Medical Center has been a national leader for the recovery model for our shizophrenic and bipolar patients. Our veterans 

have recovered from what they were told would be a chronic and 

debilitating mental illness. As a result of treatment received at the 

Portland V.A., these veterans go on to become productive members 

of society, living the life of their choosing. 

The recovery model sends a message of hope. One veteran recently said, ‘‘I am going on a date’’—and I think he was a 

shizophrenic patient—’’for the first time in 18 years.’’ Awareness, 

training, and access to appropriate mental health care continues to 

be our major components of our multi-faceted approach to reaching 

out and helping veterans while we continue to refine our treatment 

strategies. 

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me today. I will be 

pleased to answer any questions you or Senator Wyden may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Heims follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you very much, Jack. 

We spoke a little bit about this earlier, but for the record, I want 

to talk to you about what we read about, whether it is true or not, 

in terms of the high rates of turnover and burnout among mental 

health professionals in the V.A. and the time it takes to fill them. 

You are not experiencing that; is that correct? 

Mr. HEIMS. We have had no difficulty in turnover. Our turnover 

rates are one of the lowest in our V.A. as a division. Our recruitment has been excellent, particularly for social workers, psychologists, and nurse practitioners. It is a little tougher for psychiatrists. 

Senator SMITH. You know, with conflicts in Afghanistan and 

Iraq, there are tremendous amounts of traumatic brain injuries because of the kinds of weapons used against our soldiers, and we are 

finding that PTSD can even mask itself in terms of mental health 

disorders. Whether it is irritability, an inability to concentrate, all 

of these kinds of things are also signs of depression and other mental illnesses. 

Can you talk to us about the modeling you do to help a vet identify what it is they have and how you then put them on the right 

kind of therapy to get them to recovery? 

Mr. HEIMS. As you say, it is a tough issue, and I would add to 

our list of others that mask: substance abuse. Frequently we have 

veterans who have traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and they are selfmedicating with substance abuse, and how to decipher those diseases is very difficult. 

As I said, we have two neuropsychologists on staff. We have a 

group that meets twice a month to review patients with traumatic 

brain injury. We have a screening mechanism for all patients coming through primary care who are OEF and OIF and with mental 

health. So I think we have a way to not only isolate these patients, 

but also decipher——

Senator SMITH. What it is they have. 

Mr. HEIMS [continuing]. What it is they have and what the treatment plan needs to be. 

Senator SMITH. You have heard Senator Wyden’s concern—I 

share it—as it relates to rural Oregon. I live in rural Oregon, and 

there are a lot of vets in Pendleton and many other surrounding 

communities, and I am wondering what you think of our outreach 

to mental health issues to rural Oregonians who are veterans. 

Mr. HEIMS. I feel very proud of Portland’s outreach. Not only do 

we have an outreach van that goes to, oh, probably a 200-mile radius of Portland and also to the homeless areas, areas such as 

Longview or The Dalles or these kind of areas, but we also through 

Dr. Sardo’s, mentioned earlier, PTSD team has been sending our 

experts out to the small family groups in the rural areas talking 

about what they are to expect, how to cope with the returning vets. 

Plus, again, as I mentioned, our wonderful relationship with the 

National Guard. They have four reintegration—happen to be purple hearts—scattered throughout the area. 

Our main contact in eastern Oregon is Luke Wilson, an amputee 

in Hermiston, and we have worked with him in cooperation with 

his outreach to eastern Oregon. Plus, our Bend unit also does some 

work activities. 

Senator SMITH. Senator Wyden. 

24

Senator WYDEN. Just a couple. 

Doctor, in May, Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, testified that only 23 to 40 percent of the 

veterans experiencing mental health problems actually seek mental 

health services. So his appraisal was well under half of the veterans in the United States who need these mental health services 

actually seek them. At some points, it is a quarter. 

What is your estimate here in Oregon? What percentage do you 

think, of the veterans who need mental health services, actually 

come forward? I recognize that this is an inexact science for you. 

Mr. HEIMS. It is an inexact science. As we heard in the roundtable, there are—for instance, pro bono counselors see people, and 

they are very hidden. People who seek help through their churches 

or synagogues also are hidden. 

I think this can also, sadly, be said for the entire population, 

those who need to seek help and those who actually do. 

Our experience is that 35 percent first 6 months coming back 

from OEF/OIF seek mental health care, and that is paralleled in 

the V.A. and that is paralleled——

Senator WYDEN. That is the overall. What I think Dr. Insel was 

saying is that between 23 and 40 percent of veterans experiencing 

mental health problems—these are people who actually had problems—came forward. I am trying to get you to give me a sense of 

what it is in Oregon. 

Mr. HEIMS. I would say for our area, it runs about 30 percent. 

Senator WYDEN. About 30 percent of the veterans in Oregon who 

are experiencing mental health problems are coming forward? 

Mr. HEIMS. Correct. May I——

Senator WYDEN. Yes. 

Mr. HEIMS. As we all know, particularly with substance abuse, 

which is considered mental health issues, you get into such denial, 

and with PTSD, it is hard—the old saying is you can lead a horse 

to water, but you can’t make them drink. It is hard to make them 

thirsty. 

Senator WYDEN. Tell us how you tailor your outreach for that 

population. In other words, my sense is—and both of us have been 

involved in mental health services—that you have the general outreach in terms of mental health services, but here you have got a 

situation where you said, of veterans experiencing mental health 

problems, about 30 percent are coming forward. 

How do you tailor your outreach to try to get those folks to get 

service? 

Mr. HEIMS. We saw it a little earlier today with Senator Smith, 

and that is using vets who are in recovery to show the way to those 

who want recovery. That is particularly true for our patients with 

serious mental illness, like shizophrenia, bipolar, and major depression. 

Senator WYDEN. Just tell us for the record, because I have heard 

the story so many different ways and would appreciate your setting 

it out on record, what, if any, is the waiting list for mental health 

services in Oregon? 

I have heard it two different ways. So you can perhaps just work 

your way through it; that with the additional hirings, that some 

25

have said that has pretty much cleared out the waiting list, and 

I have heard others say that is not the case. 

It would be helpful for you to set out on the record, what is the 

situation today with respect to the waiting list, if any? 

Mr. HEIMS. Senator, I can’t respond for the other two facilities 

in the State, but I can respond for Portland. 

Our waiting list is, again, triaged. So as a person presents, we 

determine their acuity, and obviously if they are in high acuity, 

they are either admitted or seen that minute, that hour. For those 

who are OEF/OIF with service connected, we are seeing them within a week or two. Those who are less than that, we are seeing them 

within the 30 days. 

We have a couple exceptions, depending on matching people. 

Somebody wants, for instance, a female counselor, a female psychiatrist, that may throw some things a little. We are in the process of doing all of this hiring. We aren’t at 100 percent yet in hiring. 

Senator WYDEN. I thank you. We are also pleased that Oregon 

is out in front in the recovery model. 

Mr. HEIMS. Thank you. 

Senator WYDEN. I think that is really important news, because 

people who can be in the vanguard of figuring out how to lead this 

Country to cure bipolar disorder and shizophrenia, that is the kind 

of leadership we want in Oregon. 

Mr. HEIMS. Our leader, Dr. Mark Ward, has been doing this for 

at least 4 years, and we are very proud of his work. 

Senator WYDEN. Thank you both. 

Senator SMITH. We are proud of both of you, and we thank you 

both, as our first panel, for sacrificing the time you have made to 

be with us. 

Our second panel is equally as important. Since we know that 

more than three-quarters of our veterans do not receive health care 

through the V.A., we also have invited a number of community representatives to discuss how they serve veterans and help them find 

the care that they need. 

So we call up Dr. Nathalie Huguet with Portland State University; Mr. Ed Blackburn with Central City Concern—he is here to 

talk about the great work they are doing in Portland—Mr. Kevin 

Campbell from The Dalles, OR, who is the coordinator of the Eastern Oregon Human Services Consortium; Mr. Joseph Reiley is here 

from Lane County, veterans service coordinator; and Mr. Stuart 

Steinberg from the Crooked River Ranch near Bend. 

We thank you all. 

I would note that Mr. Steinberg is a Vietnam war veteran who 

was diagnosed with PTSD and received mental health services 

through V.A. 

So, we are anxious to hear of your experiences, Stuart. Thank 

you for being here. 

Why don’t we start with Nathalie, and we will just work our way 

down. 

26

STATEMENT OF NATHALIE HUGUET, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, 

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR PUBLIC 

HEALTH STUDIES, PORTLAND, OR 

Dr. HUGUET. Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Nathalie Huguet, 

and I am honored to present testimony today on behalf of my colleagues at Portland State University and Oregon Health and 

Science University. 

Today I will address the results of a collaborative project that focused on suicide risk among veterans in the general population. 

The National Institute of Mental Health funded the study. I am a 

research associate at Portland State University Center for Public 

Health Studies. 

Dr. Mark Kaplan, professor of community health at Portland 

State, is the lead author and principal investigator on this study 

and is unavailable to attend this hearing today. Accompanying me 

is Dr. Jason Newsom, an associate professor at the Institute on 

Aging. He is also a co-author on this study. 

Suicide is a major cause of death in the United States. Approximately 30,000 people per year complete suicide, and nearly 650,000 

people are seen in emergency departments after they attempted 

suicide. The suicide rate for men is four times that for women. Veterans may have an even greater risk of suicide than the general 

population. 

Previous studies conducted among veterans have focused on samples derived from patient populations in the Department of Veterans Affairs system. Equally important, much of the earlier suicide research has been based exclusively on Vietnam-era veterans. 

According to the literature, suicide risk factors common in the 

V.A. patients include male gender, older age, diminished social support, substance dependence, combat-related trauma, medical and 

psychiatric conditions associated with suicide, and the availability 

and knowledge of firearms. 

The reliance on V.A. clinical samples is a limitation on other 

studies because, according to the final report from the 2001 National Survey of Veterans, three-quarters of veterans do not receive 

health care through the V.A. facilities. Consequently, little is 

known at this time about suicide risk factors among veterans in 

the general U.S. population. Estimates of suicide risk may be inaccurate because the characteristics of veteran who use the V.A. system may differ from those of the larger population of veterans. 

Therefore, the purpose of our study was to examine suicide risk 

factors among veterans in the general population. In pursuing this 

goal, we used a large, nationally representative, prospective data 

base to: (1), assess the relative risk of suicide for male veterans in 

the general population (2) compare male veteran suicide decedents 

with those who died of natural and external causes and (3) examine the effects of baseline sociodemographic circumstances and 

health status on the subsequent risk of suicide. 

We used data from the 1986 through 1994 National Health Interview Survey, which was conducted by the National Center for 

Health Statistics. The NHIS data file was linked to the Multiple 

Cause of Death file through the National Death Index. The total 

sample of male veterans for the pooled NHIS data used in our 

analysis was over 100,000 cases. We identified 508 male suicide 

27

cases using the International Classification of Disease, ninth revision; 197 of these were veterans. 

Respondents were identified as veterans if they answered in the 

affirmative to the question: Did you ever serve on active duty in 

the Armed Forces of the United States? Veterans represented 16 

percent of the NHIS sample, but accounted for 31 percent of the 

suicide decedents. 

The findings show that over time veterans were twice as likely 

to die of suicide compared to male non-veterans in the general population. Conversely, the risk of death from natural causes or external causes, accidents or homicides did not differ significantly between the veterans and the non veterans. 

At baseline, veteran suicide decedents were significantly more 

likely than the non veteran decedents to be older, white, high 

school graduates, and less likely to be never married. Our results 

also show that activity limitation was an important suicide risk 

factor among veterans. 

Health care providers are well-positioned to intervene with veteran patients who have physical or mental disabilities. Primary 

care physicians, as the gatekeeper of the health care system, along 

with other specialists, have important roles to play in the assessment and management of depression and suicidality among veterans in clinical settings. 

Another important finding was the higher probability of firearms 

use among veteran suicide decedents. Supplementary analyses with 

data from the National Mortality Followback Survey showed that 

veteran suicide decedents were 58 percent more likely than non 

veterans to use firearms than other suicide methods. 

Furthermore, an analysis of veteran suicide decedents in the 

NMFS revealed that those who owned guns were 21 times more 

likely to use firearms than those who did not own guns. According 

to the recent data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, veterans are substantially more likely to own guns 

than are individuals in the general population. 

Although there is a debate among the suicidologists and policymakers about the association between availability of firearms and 

the risk of suicide, the preponderance of the evidence from other 

studies suggests that a gun in the house, even if unloaded, increases the risk of suicide in adults. Case-control studies on the 

prevalence of guns and suicide risk have shown significant increases in suicide in homes with guns, even when adjustments 

were made for other factors, such as education, arrest, or drug 

abuse. 

Because veterans are familiar with and have greater access to 

firearms, health care providers need to be more attentive to the 

critical role that firearms play in suicidal behaviors among veterans. Unfortunately, some physicians find it difficult to ask directly about firearms. Previous research by Dr. Kaplan and colleagues found that only half of the primary care physicians who 

identified patients as suicidal would inquire about their access to 

firearms. 

In conclusion, the results have potential clinical and public 

health implications. Clinicians outside the V.A. system need to be 

alert for signs of suicidal intent among veterans as well as their 

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access to firearms. Similarly, health care providers who serve veterans outside the V.A. system should also recognize the elevated 

risk of suicide in this population. 

With a projected rise of functional impairment and psychiatric 

mobility among veterans from the conflicts of Afghanistan and 

Iraq, clinical and community intervention directed toward patients 

in both V.A. and non-V.A. health care facilities will be needed. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear today. I will be 

happy to answer any of your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Huguet follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you very much, Nathalie. We will probably have some questions for you. We will just go down each witness, and then we will go back to you. 

Ed Blackburn. 

STATEMENT OF ED BLACKBURN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

CENTRAL CITY CONCERN, PORTLAND, OR 

Dr. BLACKBURN. Senators Smith and Wyden, thank you for the 

opportunity to be here. I hope I do our veterans and staff that work 

with them justice in this testimony. 

Senator Smith, your comments about peer support are right on. 

Without the peer support from veterans, we cannot be successful 

as we should be, particularly with the population I am about to 

speak of, and that is homeless vets. I think with all vets, a corps 

of veterans in recovery would be a big help. 

Senator Wyden, your observations about the housing issue, not 

in just central Oregon but here in Portland, OR, is critical. Peer 

support, supportive housing, supportive employment, these things 

are the foundation of any kind of recovery, particularly for the 

homeless population. 

I am Ed Blackburn. I am the deputy director of Central City 

Concern, which has operated in Portland for almost 30 years. We 

provide services to about 15,000 homeless people per year, and 

amongst those 15,000 are quite a few veterans. We estimate that 

there are about 17,000 homeless people in the metropolitan area 

annually, and 4,000 and 7,000 of these people are veterans. 

What do they face? Poverty, addictions, mental health issues, including PTSD, physical disabilities, poor health, in some cases 

criminal backgrounds, poor employment or rental histories, disaffiliation with service systems and social support network—and 

that is why the peer support is so important—post-traumatic stress 

disorder, traumatic brain injury. Some people have all these things. 

I want to talk about three programs that produce success for 

homeless veterans. One is called the Community Engagement Program. I am going to tell just a brief story. 

’’W’’ is a veteran who had been homeless for approximately 5 

years with a substance abuse disorder. He was referred to the 

Community Engagement Program by the V.A. Medical Center and 

received housing and intensive case management through Central 

City Concern, including support from an employment specialist. 

He was connected to vocational rehab services, substance abuse 

treatment, which was successful in his case. He obtained his GED 

and his commercial driver’s license and recently has been accepted 

into the truck drivers’ union and has obtained a job with a local 

trucking company. 

The Community Engagement Program was funded through the 

Interagency Council on Homelessness, which the Veterans Administration is part of, and also Department of Labor and Department 

of Human Services. It targets chronically homeless adults in the 

Portland area and uses a multi-disciplinary team, including psychiatric, substance abuse, peer case managers, and primary care. 

It is out in the community, and it does outreach on that basis. It 

provides immediate access to housing, primary health care, and 

employment support. 

38

This program, over the last 3 or 4 years, has served about 250 

clients. That is, 250 chronic homeless clients with their average 

homelessness of about 8 years have been placed in a house. About 

60 of those are veterans. The major barrier to serving more veterans is the discharge status of the veterans and the relationship 

of their injury to military service. 

So how do we fund services for those people? We find other ways 

of doing that, but that needs to be looked at, the rules around that, 

and whether exceptions can be made under certain circumstances. 

Next I want to talk about the Homeless Veterans Reintegration 

Project. 

’’R’’ was unemployed for 3 years, homeless for 2, addicted to heroin and alcohol. He had a history of mental health issues and domestic violence and debt. He was honorably discharged from the 

Navy after 6 years of active duty. 

Through the Veterans Reintegration Project, he attended employment classes and moved in supportive housing. He used V.A. Medical for primary care, dental, mental health, substance abuse, and 

work training services. The V.A.’s Compensated Work Therapy program enrolled him in entrance-level custodial work, and the V.A. 

Medical Center later offered him full-time employment as a Federal employee with a starting salary of $26 an hour. 

The Veterans Reintegration Project is funded by the Department 

of Labor, and it expedites reintegration of homeless individuals into 

the labor force, provides job training, placement assistance, and initial case management. 

Through this program in Central City Concern, we have enrolled 

2,300 veterans. 814 obtained employment, with an average wage of 

$11.20 an hour, and over 1,600 of those veterans obtained housing 

through this program. During the last fiscal year, 67 percent of the 

HVRP participants were placed into employment. 

So that is another success story about what works. 

The Veterans Grant and Per Diem program. ‘‘D’’ had a criminal 

background and history of drug use and no legal I.D. except for 

documentation of his U.S. Army veteran status of 6 years military 

service and honorable discharge. He had failed in most local service 

channels and had no income, no food sources, and was sleeping in 

a flower bed. 

After entering the program, he moved into housing, obtained employment at a local service station, and soon gained certification as 

an auto technician. He is now fully employed, employed full-time 

as a supervising mechanic at a wage of $25 an hour. 

The Veterans Grant and Per Diem program is funded through 

the V.A. and offers transitional housing and case management for 

servicemen with an honorable discharge. Since its inception—it is 

2 years old there are about 112 veterans that have been housed, 

60 have been employed, and about 12 of those have received a V.A. 

pension and been able to work the system because they had housing. Without the housing, they would be on the streets, would not 

have obtained their benefits. 

That program has a 4-month waiting list now. In other words, 

there is a 4-months wait for a veteran to be able to get housing 

through that program. 

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These are the three programs that we know work at Central City 

Concern. We provide other services in our alcohol and drug treatment program and our detox center and other housing opportunities for veterans. But these are the things that work. 

So my recommendation to you is, particularly when it comes to 

homeless vets, the peer support is essential. We ought to find a 

way of the various community-based programs with Veterans Affairs to fund more veterans and employment services. 

We have found that when we hire recovering people, formerly 

homeless, they bring people in. They are able to connect people to 

services, kind of break down the cynicism and the disaffiliation 

that has occurred, and encourage them to move forward with the 

recovery. They are living examples of what can happen when people are in the recovery process. 

Housing, there is an absolute shortage of housing, affordable 

housing, for veterans. It is the key to ending their homelessness 

and allows the mental health and clinical primary care services to 

be successful. You cannot be successful with these people who are 

homeless unless housing is available, and appropriate housing. 

There are rules that I would be glad to talk to your staff about 

around how that—the Per Diem program, for example, is financed, 

that make it difficult, probably unnecessarily so, both for Veterans 

Affairs and for us that we need to look at. 

What do we mean by ‘‘recovery’’? Recovery means re-establishing 

the right relationship with oneself, right relationship with others 

that you need to live with, and right relationship spiritually or 

ethically to find a greater meaning in life. These people have been 

wronged, and what we are about is making a wrong right. 

I wish you all luck in moving forward on these issues. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Blackburn follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you, Ed. Those were terrific suggestions. 

I am grateful for your time here. 

Joseph Reiley. 

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH REILEY, VETERANS SERVICE 

COORDINATOR, LANE COUNTY, OR 

Mr. Reiley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Wyden. 

Senator SMITH. Speak right up in that machine there. 

Mr. Reiley. Thank you for inviting me today, and thank you you 

for your interest in these issues. 

I am the Lane County Veteran Services Officer, and as you 

know, Lane County service officers and all veteran service officers 

are really dedicated to ensuring that the veterans and their surviving spouses and their dependents, who have the eligibility for 

V.A. benefits, obtain the maximum benefit that they are entitled to 

under the law. 

For the most part, we help veterans and claimants with VBA, 

Veterans Benefits Administration, claims for service connected 

compensation and non-service connected pension claims. We also 

help facilitate enrollment in V.A. health care. 

I took the job with Lane County Veteran Services in June of 

2003, and at that time, and still today, the majority of our clients 

are World War II veterans filing re-evaluations on old service-connected conditions, sometimes filing new claims for service connection even; also, though, accessing the non-service-connected pension 

a needs-based benefit based on their income and medical expenses. 

Also, Korean-era veterans, similar situations, and Vietnam-era 

veterans. Many of those filing initial claims for service connection, 

20, 30 years after their service, they are coming to realize that the 

conditions which they didn’t think were a big deal during their 

service really are impacting their health to a great degree, and 

they are hoping to get help with those conditions. 

During that summer of 2003 there was—there is an organization, 

very informal, called the Lane County Vet Net. It is veterans service providers. They are staff from the V.A, and some of the congressional veterans staffers come to these meetings. We meet once a 

month. At that time we are mostly focused on planning the Eugene 

Stand Down, an event to try to integrate homeless veterans into 

the V.A. system, reach out to them, get those folks benefits. It was 

also a Veteran Appreciation Day, so all veterans were, of course, 

welcome. 

Day to day, my work really wasn’t impacted by the wars in Iraq 

and Afghanistan. Maybe once a month we would have a veteran 

out of Afghanistan that we would help enroll in V.A. health care 

or file an initial claim for service connection. But it wasn’t really 

a big issue, frankly. 

Then in October 2003 it became a very big issue for Lane County. At that time the 2–162nd National Guard infantry unit was 

called up. They trained for 6 months here in the States and then 

deployed to Iraq for a year. That unit consisted of 700 to 900 individuals, the vast majority of whom lived in Lane County. The unit 

is based out of Cottage Grove, but their main armory is the Eugene 

armory. 

51

The Vet Net organization realized that we needed to help in 

reaching out to their families who were left behind and to prepare 

for their return. We sent out word to nontraditional veteran service 

providers, folks that don’t focus solely on serving veterans. We held 

a Vet Net summit in the spring of 2004 where 30 to 40 organizations sent representatives. 

We all got together in one room at the Lane County Mental 

Health building and talked about this Title 10 call-up of the 2–

162nd and also discussed our various organizations so that the barriers between V.A. and veteran service providers and traditional 

community providers could start to be whittled down. 

I am happy to say that many of those organizations have continued in the Vet Net process, and so we continue to meet with them 

monthly. 

Out of that came a realization that, while there are concerns 

about the V.A.’s ability to serve these veterans, services for the 

family members really wasn’t going to be available through the 

V.A. There are some services available for family members in the 

mental health realm, and I refer to them in my written materials, 

but for the most part, without the veteran being actively engaged 

in treatment, there is really nothing available for the family members. 

Of course while an individual is on deployment in Iraq, they are 

obviously not engaged in V.A. treatment. So Lane County Mental 

Health and LaneCare reached out to the providers to see if any 

were interested in trying to fill that gap. 

Lane County Mental Health and LaneCare organized a combat 

post-traumatic stress disorder treatment program and a reintegration treatment program to bring those issues to providers who typically treat PTSD from other stressors. 

We are fortunate at Lane County Mental Health to have on staff 

Dr. Michael Reaves, who worked for a long time here at the Portland V.A. Medical Center in PTSD treatment of veterans. He 

brought in some of his former colleagues, and they provided specific 

training for the local providers to address veterans’ issues. 

That program is still in place, and veterans or their family members are able to access that through LaneCare. These providers are 

available on a short notice and with a sliding fee. 

I, frankly, have kind of a skewed perspective, I think, from being 

in Lane County and not just because I am in Eugene. I don’t think 

we do anything any better or any different than anywhere else in 

Oregon, but we are really blessed in the fortuitous coincidences 

that we have had. 

When the 2–162nd was mobilized, family support coordinators, in 

my perspective, seemed to be a fairly new thing for the National 

Guard and for the military in general. That might just be my inexperience with the system, but that is how it seemed from an outsider’s perspective. 

We were very fortunate in the quality of the family support coordinators who were based out of the Eugene armory. Darcy Woodke 

and Laura Boggs went on to win national awards for their services 

to the family members of the 2–162nd. 

Additionally, within VHA, Veterans Health Administration, in 

Eugene at the Community Reintegration Service Center, there is 

52

an individual who retired out of the Oregon National Guard, and 

so he was able to make sure that he and other Roseburg VHA employees were at the demobilizations of the 2–162nd. So all of those 

individuals had 1010EZ forms completed during their demobilization, and that is the application for VHA health enrollment. So we 

were able to get all of these individuals enrolled in V.A. health 

care, right on their demobilization. 

Senator SMITH. So none of them have fallen through the cracks? 

Mr. Reiley. Well, they were enrolled, but not all of them went to 

their initial appointments. Not all have followed up with that initial enrollment and eligibility. 

Senator SMITH. But what a good idea. 

Mr. Reiley. Again, not just Lane County, but the Oregon National Guard, the 2–162nd, they weren’t the first major unit to be 

deployed from Oregon, but really seemed to wake up the V.A. providers, the National Guard command, the county veteran service 

officers, the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, that we are 

getting a lot of nontraditional veterans created. 

Ones that are called up under Title 10 and complete their callup, they are eligible for all of the V.A. benefits that regular Army, 

regular Marines were historically eligible for. Traditionally, National Guardsmen aren’t entitled to those benefits without a Title 

10 call-up. 

Senator SMITH. So what you did is not traditional. 

Mr. Reiley. Well, we are not in a traditional period of history. 

Senator SMITH. Maybe it should be traditional. 

Mr. Reiley. The reintegration summits, which Dr. Heims mentioned, the Oregon National Guard, and Oregon Department of 

Veterans Affairs has really worked together to try to be at these 

demobilizations so that we can get these folks right at that point. 

There is some tension there because, you know, oftentimes it is 

somebody like me standing in front of these folks trying to tell 

them what their benefits are; on the other side of the door is their 

family that they haven’t seen in a long time. So we have concerns 

about how much is being heard. 

Senator WYDEN. They characterize that, that part of their experience, as the biggest recycling program in history, because what 

happens is people get those materials that you all have diligently 

tried to put together, but their loved ones are right there, so they 

want to see their loved ones, and off go those printed materials in 

the recycling bins. 

Senator SMITH. As nice it is to see you, I imagine they want to 

see their loved ones more. 

Mr. Reiley. I imagine so, Senator. 

Senator SMITH. But maybe there is a better time. Maybe on the 

plane back or some point before they get here there ought to be a 

requirement. 

Mr. Reiley. This is definitely a work in progress. 

Senator SMITH. You have given us a good idea. 

Mr. Reiley. Some differences to be aware of: National Guard, 

Army Reserve called up under Title 10, demobilized, there is kind 

of a cooling-off period or an untouchable period for 90 days, when 

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ies. They are allowed to, but the command cannot require them to 

attend. 

Marine Corps Reserve does it a little differently. I am not sure 

if it is 60 or 90 days, but upon their return home, they are kept 

on active duty, and so they have that period to kind of decompress, 

still while drawing active-duty pay and still where the command 

can say, you know, ‘‘You have been home for 3 weeks. Come on 

back in. We are going to have a presentation about your V.A. benefits.’’ 

So there are pluses and minuses to each procedure, but that is 

one thing that the Marine Corps does a little differently, which 

seems to allow them to get information out at perhaps better times. 

If I could take a moment to address some of the broader concerns. VBA, Veterans Benefits Administration, VHA, Veterans 

Health Administration, are in a period of prioritizing OEF and OIF 

veterans, and that is simply something which, again, has many 

pluses. If we can address these most recent veterans’ concerns immediately, perhaps those concerns won’t become the long-term 

problems that we have seen in other-era veterans. 

The problem is we establish priorities within a group that really 

is equal and within which there are no distinctions based on when 

one is served, in the sense of a period being better than another. 

So within VHA, Congress has authorized additional funds, additional positions are being created and filled to reach out to those 

veterans specifically. But we are not reaching out to, if we presume 

that 30 percent of those with a mental health condition seek treatment, those 70 percent from Vietnam, from the Korean era, from 

World War II. 

So it is a difficult issue, but it does seem to be one that can be 

fixed with additional funds. It is not one of those problems which 

isn’t going to be helped by money being thrown at it; getting more 

staff within VHA, getting more outreach coordinators within the 

Vet Centers. There are ones dedicated to global war on terrorism 

veterans, but no other-era veterans. Getting more of those folks on 

board with VHA I think really could make a difference, getting 

these folks in. 

The eligibility criteria which we discussed, those returning from 

combat, one eligible for 2 years of VHA treatment from their date 

of separation, that is only for veterans who served in combat theater after 1998. So we have the Vietnam-era veteran who loses 

their job, the V.A. looks back to their income to the previous calendar year. 

Oftentimes I have to tell them, ‘‘It is February. I understand you 

are having difficulties. But next year we will probably be able to 

make you eligible for V.A. health care because we will look back 

for this year, but right now you don’t have eligibility.’’ 

So, some type of emergency period of eligibility for all veterans, 

whether it is 2 years or 5 years, that they can access at any point 

in their life might be something to consider. 

The last point I would like to bring to your attention or issue to 

address is the confidentiality of VHA records. Dr. Zeiss’s testimony, 

I think the key word there was ‘‘automatically’’ be shared with 

DOD. Also at the roundtable we were at earlier, you heard mention 

that the Oregon National Guard commander has stated that he 

54

will not request VHA treatment records. Well, he had to state that 

because he has that ability to get those records. 

It is my understanding that if DOD commanders believe that 

VHA treatment records are necessary to review to determine their 

mission readiness, whether in general or for a particular soldier, 

that they have the ability to get those treatment records. 

In Oregon, where nearly 7,000 of our 8,000 National Guardsmen 

have been called up since September 11th and are being called up 

again and again and are scheduled in 2009 to go back to Iraq, this 

is a great concern, whether those records are going to be shared. 

I am sure it is a law which allows that. 

Senator WYDEN. I want to make sure I understand that point. 

When I asked Dr. Zeiss about that, the central question was right 

now there seems to be a lot of confusion about the records with respect to the computers at V.A. and the computers at DOD. She 

said, yes, that was the case. They were working on policy, but that 

it was the intent, at least of their program, that the patient should 

own the records, which is something I feel very strongly about. 

What you are saying is here is another program where it doesn’t 

look like the patient’s interests are paramount. Is that right? 

Mr. Reiley. That is my understanding, Senator. 

Senator WYDEN. So we are going to have to sort out, as we try 

to coordinate how to make sure that the V.A., and the DOD are 

working together, we are going to have to coordinate different policies with respect to how records are handled. Is that right? 

Mr. Reiley. I would appreciate that, Senator. 

Senator WYDEN. Very good. 

Mr. Reiley. I think the key is that it has to be requested by DOD, 

and that is why I believe the doctor mentioned that the records 

would not automatically be provided. From an outsider’s perspective, this does not seem to be something that VHA is, frankly, 

thrilled about, but it seems to be something that they have to deal 

with. 

Senator WYDEN. It ought to be that if ever there was a group in 

America that ought to control its records, it is the veterans. That 

is a part of my Healthy Americans Act, for example, is to make 

sure that as we go forward and set up electronic medical records, 

that the patient owns it. Certainly those who have worn the uniform of the United States deserve to own their medical records. 

So you have now highlighted the fact that there may even be different policies with differing programs, and we are going to have 

to sort through it. We will be consulting with you on it. 

Mr. Reiley. Thank you, Senator. Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Reiley follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you, Joe. 

Kevin. Kevin Campbell. 

STATEMENT OF KEVIN CAMPBELL, COORDINATOR, EASTERN 

OREGON HUMAN SERVICES CONSORTIUM, THE DALLES, OR 

Mr. CAMPBELL. Good afternoon. Thank you, Senator Smith and 

Senator Wyden, for coming out here for this very important matter. 

It is a privilege to be with you this afternoon. 

My name is Kevin Campbell, for the record. I am the coordinator 

of the Eastern Oregon Human Services Consortium. The consortium was established in the 1980’s to represent the mental health 

needs of 13 rural Oregon counties. 

In essence, counties got into this business on a Federal initiative. 

We had support from the State services, then moved and migrated 

because of lack of money, and the mental health directors of eastern Oregon decided very early in the system development that the 

only way we were going to be able to provide services to our citizens is by banding together. 

I looked on the Web to see how many vets reside in our counties, 

and there are about 23,000 vets living in the EOHSC catchment 

area. So about 23,000 vets scattered over about 45,000 square 

miles. That is about two square miles per vet. Some of them would 

think that is just about right. [Laughter.] 

If you get to counties the size of Grant County, which has about 

800 vets, they have five and a half square miles per vet. For Harney County, you are dealing with about 10 square miles per vet. 

The reason I go into this is what we discovered very early was 

you don’t bring people to the services and you don’t build facilities 

to treat people; you bring the services to the people. You do it 

based upon community strengths, and you do it based upon sensitivity to culture. 

In our part of the State, I would dare to say we are pretty independent, and I would say that people don’t very quickly ask for 

help. If they do ask for help, they generally talk to a friend, a family member, or a neighbor or a clergy member, not somebody that 

is new to them or not somebody from an agency program that is 

necessarily there to help them. 

Our vets I think are tremendous volunteers, and it is their spirit 

of volunteerism that oftentimes made them veterans in the first 

place. When they come back to their communities, they deserve the 

dignity and the opportunity to continue being volunteers to the 

communities that they are from. Because of the way things are 

working together today, that is very, very difficult. 

A number of our folks in the current conflicts served in the National Guard. Many of them are nearly my age. To be disrupted 

from paying a mortgage and moving from a job to a period of active 

duty puts tremendous pressure on a family to just make ends meet. 

When that individual comes back from the conflict, regardless of 

whether there are mental health symptoms or not, there is going 

to be more stress than that individual and their family have ever 

had to deal with in their lives. 

All of us are very happy and very proud when vets come home. 

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sure of trying to reintegrate in the community when they come 

back. 

If I had one thing to say, it is very important that we recognize 

that the Federal Government has some ownership in the health 

and future of our veterans, and that if the Federal Government 

steps up and takes some ownership in that health and future, I 

think the dividends paid will be tremendous. 

I truly appreciate your idea of peer support networks. We in 

eastern Oregon are strong advocates of recovery from mental illness, and as in recovery from any other malady, early intervention 

is the key to it. The sooner we can get to people, the sooner we can 

work with people, and the less stigma we attach to needing help, 

then the better our outcomes are going to be. 

The publicly funded community mental health centers of eastern 

Oregon are there to serve all the residents of the county. Our primary funding source at this point in time is Medicaid. It is ironic 

that the numbers of people who are on Medicaid are very similar 

to the numbers of vets in our counties: approximately 7,000 in 

Umatilla County on both vets and Medicaid numbers. 

Now, some of those are going to be duplicated, but it seems to 

me that we can get economy of scale if we can leverage some Federal dollars to serve veterans in local community health programs 

and also use the Medicaid money that is serving the Medicaid population to serve that population. So maybe for $1.50 we can get $2 

worth bigger out of the investment, if we think of it in that way. 

The primary thing that we have to deal with today is, in rural 

Oregon, we strongly embrace the managed care concept. We took 

responsibility for the long-term care of our folks, primarily with 

Medicaid. We created systems of care within the community. We 

did not rely upon expensive acute care in hospitalization. We have 

among the lowest hospitalization rates in the State. 

I believe that we are leading the State and the Country in recovery from mental illness in places like Wallowa County, Harney 

County, Malheur County, and now indeed in Umatilla County as 

well. 

The challenges in doing that are that you have to have some 

money to absorb risk, and you have to have a payoff. If you are 

willing to take the risk, you can’t just be managed down to the dollar of what you spent last year, because 1 bad year could wipe you 

out. 

The Deficit Reduction Act is really moving us back to a fee-forservice type of system rather than a managed care system. 

If we are going to provide services to our vets in the future, then 

I would encourage you to think about the role of the community 

and the fact that the VFW, the American Legion, the veteran service officers, and the local mental health clinic and indeed county 

government all have a role in helping people through times of need. 

If we can invest only a few dollars in the bottom of the system, I 

think it will pay huge dividends to the top of the system. 

I was sitting next to a gentleman from Pendleton, who I just met. 

It turns out he has known my family for a hundred years, kind of 

an eastern Oregon thing. But Mr. Cook, I was talking to him about 

VFW in Grant County, and he told me that they were in danger 

of losing their post down there because there are so few members 

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and people are so busy and it is very difficult to make a living and 

don’t have time to volunteer. 

That has a real impact to me because in that county, that is one 

of the few natural supports that we have out there for vets, both 

new vets and vets that have been around for a while. I think that 

it is really important that we recognize the value of those organizations and buildupon their strength and their volunteerism rather 

than just trying to squeeze services into silos, if you will, or 

squeeze veterans into cars or buses to access best-of care. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Campbell follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you, Kevin. Those were really excellent 

words. We appreciate it so much. 

Stuart, you are going to bat clean-up here. 

STATEMENT OF STUART STEINBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

CENTRAL OREGON VETERANS OUTREACH, CROOKED RIVER 

RANCH, OR 

Mr. STEINBERG. OK. Before I actually start my formal testimony, 

I was very interested in hearing about this concept of peer support, 

and I want to just kind of briefly mention our organization. 

I am the executive director of Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, 

and we are a peer support organization. Eight of our board members and staff are combat vets: seven from Vietnam, one from 

World War II. Six of us are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress 

disorder. 

I am a Vietnam veteran who has had to deal with this issue for 

many years and have a personal perspective that allows me to discuss this problem in detail. In addition, I have been a national 

service officer for Vietnam Veterans of America since 1978, and in 

that position have assisted hundreds of veterans in claims for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but often involved 

mental health issues, particularly claims for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. 

Finally, directly related to veterans’ mental health issues is the 

problem of alcoholism and substance abuse that is often secondary 

to the primary mental health diagnosis. 

I served in the U.S. Army from 1966 until 1971 and was in Vietnam from August 1968 until March 1970. I was an explosive ordnance disposal specialist; that is bomb squad, for those of you who 

aren’t familiar with military language. I saw a lot of combat. I was 

wounded twice and decorated for heroism in ground combat. 

I was first diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 1993 

by the V.A. after many years of dealing with things I didn’t understand. 

I want to say that many people believe that everyone diagnosed 

with this disorder is incapable of functioning, and this is simply not 

true. It is unfortunate that this is a myth foisted upon the American public by media reports of a few sensational cases that leave 

people with the impression that this is the way it is with all of us 

diagnosed with PTSD. 

In my own case, despite my symptoms—startle response, 

hypervigilance, a sleep disorder, intrusive thoughts about the war, 

substance abuse and alcoholism, two failed marriages, and anger 

management issues—I managed to get a college degree, a law degree, and an advanced law degree. I was a graduate teaching fellow 

at the Georgetown University Law Center, a successful criminal 

defense attorney, and then an equally successful capital defense investigator for the Oregon Capital Defenders. 

In 2002, my PTSD symptoms finally got to a point where I was 

almost unable to function, either in the workplace or in social settings, and I had to give up a job that I loved. 

I am now rated by the V.A. as being totally disabled by PTSD 

and several physical problems related to being wounded and being 

69

exposed to herbicides. I was 55 when this happened, and I have 

learned that I am not alone in this regard. 

Because of my involvement in a PTSD group at the Bend’s V.A. 

community-based outpatient clinic, I learned that a number of 

older veterans, most of whom served in Vietnam, found themselves 

finally having to deal with their issues related to the war late in 

life. I cannot tell you precisely why this is, but in my own case it 

was as simple as approaching the age of 60 and not wanting to live 

the rest of my life having this illness interfere with virtually everything, every day. 

I, and many of the veterans I know, also have had to deal with 

alcohol and substance abuse issues that were directly related to our 

mental health problems. It was a way that we self-medicated so 

that we didn’t have to deal with the primary problem. If it had not 

been for the group I was able to get into at the clinic—and that 

is a key phrase right there, ‘‘able to get into’’—I really don’t know 

what I would be doing now, but I can assure you I would not be 

sitting here today talking to you. 

The issue of veterans’ mental health problems, especially among 

older veterans, is a serious and growing situation in the V.A. system. This has become particularly true since the additional burdens on the V.A. mental health system caused by the return of soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let’s not forget that 

in addition there were combat veterans also being seen from the 

first Gulf War, the Balkans conflict, the Sinai, and now the Horn 

of Africa. 

The inability of the V.A. to adequately provide services for all 

who need them when they need them is not their fault. It is one 

of simple numbers. They do not have the funds to care for those 

who need treatment, and this is the direct result of the Government refusing to recognize the depth of the problem and failing to 

seek enough funding for the V.A. in their budget requests. 

This has been going on for years, and claims about how much the 

V.A. budget has been increased in recent years are disingenuous 

since the increases do not reflect inflation or the rapidly expanding 

costs of health care. 

Moreover, even the current Congress, while seeking greater funding, is still not asking for enough to care for all of those who need 

care now or those who will need care in the future, when they need 

it. 

The care we get at our clinic is absolutely top-notch—that is, for 

those of us lucky enough to be getting treated. The mental health 

staff is professional and extremely knowledgeable about PTSD, and 

they have helped hundreds of us over the years. The problem is 

that there are so many veterans in need of mental health services—and this is a nationwide problem—that the staff is overwhelmed. 

I am going to depart a little bit here. We have one psychiatrist 

who essentially is writing all of the prescriptions for psychotropic 

medication. We have one clinical social worker, and we have one 

clinical psychologist who, unfortunately, was recently diagnosed 

with a disease that he is probably not going to recover from. So he 

is out of the picture. 

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I don’t know how long it is going to take for them to replace this 

man who has helped so many of us, but however long it is, it is 

going to be too long, I can guarantee you, and the men and women 

he is treating are completely freaking out about this possibility. 

OK. So what it boils down to is there are too few mental health 

professionals and too many clients. I don’t know where these 3,000 

mental health professionals I heard Dr. Zeiss—where they are, but 

they are not in Bend. 

Senator WYDEN. We are going to try and change that. 

Mr. STEINBERG. I hope so, Senator. 

Those who are being seen are typically being seen once a month 

individually, even if they should be seen weekly because of acute 

problems. As far as the groups go, there are waiting lists to get into 

them because the staff can only see so many in this setting. 

In fact, I have a client, as a service officer, who it is clear to me 

has post-traumatic stress disorder. He is a Vietnam veteran who 

served for 18 months as a helicopter door gunner. He flew more 

than 500 hours of combat flight time, has 21 air medals, one for 

valor, the Bronze Star, and the Army Commendation Medal. He is 

on a waiting list at our clinic for his initial mental health assessment, and that means that he is months away from actually getting into treatment, despite his acute symptoms. 

As far as my organization is concerned, this is immoral and it 

should be criminal. In our world, we were taught during our military service that you never, never leave a man or woman behind, 

yet that is precisely what happens to veterans in this Country 

every day due to a lack of adequate funding. 

This problem is not only affecting us older veterans, but it is also 

having an impact on the younger men and women returning from 

the current wars. 

There is no question that as time passes, more of the younger 

veterans will seek treatment for mental health problems directly 

related to their combat experiences, just as we Vietnam veterans 

have. If adequate funding is not available, you will see the results 

in failed marriages, lost jobs, anger management problems, and addiction problems. 

In terms of the addictions issue—and this is something I have 

personal experience in—the V.A. has totally failed in this regard. 

They have closed down numerous in-patient programs throughout 

the Country, and the number of beds have been cut to the point 

of near extinction. 

At a recent meeting between Senator Wyden, regional V.A. medical people, and local veterans, I asked about this problem. Incredulously, I was informed that the V.A. was shifting to outpatient 

care—and this is a quote—’’because everyone knows it works better.’’ 

In the words of one my colleagues, this is a giant load. Anyone 

who knows anything about long-term alcohol and drug abuse 

knows that in-patient treatment, the famous 21 days, is critical to 

successful recovery before outpatient care can begin. 

I want to say to the new director who is here from Walla Walla 

that I did their in-patient program, and it is an incredible program. 

Now I hear there is talk about shutting it down and turning it into 

a giant outpatient clinic, and this is just wrong. 

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Senator WYDEN. Well, I will oppose that, too. 

Mr. STEINBERG. I hope so. 

The V.A. is apparently the only provider of alcohol and drug 

rehab treatment that believes that in-patient care is less efficacious 

in successful recovery than outpatient care. 

Again, there is simply no question that the real reason for loss 

of in-patient care is money. Once again, the cause is lack of funding 

for critically needed V.A. programs. 

My program has referred more than a dozen veterans to in-patient programs in Walla Walla and Boise, and all of them who have 

had multiple outpatient failures are still sober and now in a successful after-care program. 

By the way, if you expect to successfully deal with PTSD and 

other mental health problems when there is a co-existing substance 

abuse problem that is being inadequately treated, the likelihood of 

success in the mental health area is virtually impossible. 

The addition of the addictions therapists at the local clinic—and 

we just got one in Bend in the year 2007—is a good start, but it 

cannot replace in-patient care in the first instance. 

I could go on about these issues for hours, but I think I have said 

what I wanted to say. I appreciate the opportunity to have been 

able to speak about this important and serious issue, and hope that 

you were able to use all of the data you gathered today to help 

bring about long-overdue change in the way the V.A. has been so 

woefully and inadequately funded. 

When a man or woman goes off to war and defends their Country, they should not have to come home to continue to be at war 

with their Government over adequate medical and mental health 

treatment. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Steinberg follows:]

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Senator SMITH. Thank you, Stuart, so very much, for your service 

to our Country and the Vietnam conflict and for your courage in 

sharing your story and then serving other veterans. 

Senator Wyden has a few questions. I am going to submit my 

questions for the record, because if I don’t get home for the Fourth 

of July activities my wife has planned in Pendleton, she is going 

to have an anger management issue with me. [Laughter.] 

So, Senator Wyden. 

Senator WYDEN. I thank you, Senator Smith, and I thank you for 

the chance to work with you on this. I am going to ask a couple 

of quick questions. 

Joe, Governor Kulongoski and I were told in late spring that an 

Oregon Guard member or Reservist can be holding a gun in 

Afghanistan and then 12 days later be holding their child, say, in 

Portland or Ontario or anywhere else in Oregon. 

What are the implications of such a rapid transition for mental 

health services, and what do you think ought to be done? 

Mr. Reiley. Well, Senator, I am not a mental health professional, 

so I would defer to their judgment on how best to transition one 

from that setting to the other. 

In my perspective, when a client comes to my office, they are already either aware that there may be something available for them 

or aware that there is something there. Sometimes we have folks 

come in just to say, ‘‘I am a veteran. I served during this period. 

What could I be eligible for?’’ 

So part of the need is to get that information out to those folks 

during that 12-day period so that they know, when they are home 

with their family, that if they feel something going awry, if they 

have some concerns, that there are folks that are able and willing 

to help them. 

Also, during the deployments we meet with the family members. 

At the Eugene armory we will typically do a couple of meetings 

with family members while troops are deployed. Representatives 

from the V.A. and myself are typically there and talk about the 

benefits. 

I think in the roundtable this came up, oftentimes the referrals 

for post-traumatic stress disorder issues come from spouses. They 

are often the first to recognize that something is different with this 

individual. 

But the best way to transition from one setting to the other, I 

cannot answer that. 

Senator WYDEN. Senator Smith is on a tight timeline. I am going 

to ask all of you to answer that on the record because it just strikes 

me, given everything we are seeing about the nature of the conflict 

in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is not going to work. In a 12-day 

transition period from literally holding a gun to holding your child, 

something like that, we are going to have to look at this. So I will 

ask you do that in writing. 

One question for you, because I have been asking a lot of questions about rural areas: What do you think is the biggest barrier 

in the metropolitan area for vets getting services? 

Dr. BLACKBURN. I think the biggest barrier is the disaffiliation 

from the system and the reluctance to get involved in highly buVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Feb 12, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40409.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
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reaucratic systems. For those with special needs, navigating those 

systems is particularly difficult. 

So I think for people that are suffering from some of the conditions we are talking about, I think peer advocacy is probably the 

most important thing we can do right away for vets coming, is that 

they are connected to peer advocates who can help them make that 

transition, kind of warn them what to expect over the next few 

weeks, and kind of stick with them if they have these special needs 

or state a desire to have that kind of service. 

Senator WYDEN. You all have been an excellent panel. 

Mr. Steinberg, let me thank you again——

Mr. STEINBERG. Thank you. 

Senator WYDEN [continuing]. Both for your service and your advocacy. As I listen to you, I think, frankly, mandatory funding 

would go a long way to handling a number of the issues you describe. 

Mr. STEINBERG. Absolutely. 

Senator WYDEN. But one of the reasons I did ask Dr. Zeiss to get 

us that 90-day assessment, we can get an assessment of what is 

actually going on in this State with respect to mental health services and then have a debate about where to get the money, because 

I share your view. I think a lot of people are falling between the 

cracks, and we definitely, both of us, feel if one veteran falls between the cracks, that is one darn too many. 

Mr. STEINBERG. Can I say something here? 

Senator WYDEN. Of course. Sure. 

Mr. STEINBERG. Let me tell you the biggest reason, or at least 

the most cogent example of why mandatory funding is so necessary. I have mentioned this to Mike on Senator Smith’s staff. 

A couple of years ago it was discovered that the V.A. was taking 

money from programs and spending it—I swear I am not making 

this up—on outsourcing studies, outsourcing V.A. jobs to some 

other country. 

Now, Vietnam Veterans of America, as far as I know, is the only 

organization that filed a formal complaint with the Department of 

Justice. It was my understanding at the time that this act may 

have, in fact, been criminal. 

There has been no response from either the V.A. or the Department of Justice about this situation. That is the first thing. 

The second thing, you know, you talk about these kids coming 

back from Iraq and Afghanistan, 12 days. Imagine what it was like 

when we flew back from Vietnam and went from, literally in my 

case, from being in a firefight to being in Oakland, California, in 

less than 24 hours, a little over 24 hours. 

I don’t know what the answer is, but when you talk about the 

stigma, right now I have seen probably six or seven OEF and OIF 

vets, and all of them have come to me because they have post-traumatic stress disorder. As I think it was Kevin said, they come to 

me through their families. In fact, I just got one where the motherin-law was so concerned. 

Every one of these cases I get these kids’ records, and I look at 

their post-deployment questionnaire, where it goes right down the 

list of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: startle response, 

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hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, and on and on and on. Yes or 

no? No. No. No. No. No. No. 

Then it gets to the question: Is your health, including mental 

health, as good as, better than, or worse than it was before you deployed? Every single one of them checks off ‘‘it is as good as’’ or ‘‘it 

is better than.’’ 

Every single one of these kids, when I asked them, ‘‘Are you 

going to sit here and tell me you didn’t have any of these problems 

when you came back?’’ ‘‘Oh, no, I had them all.’’ ‘‘Well, then why 

did you check no, no, no, no?’’ ‘‘Because I knew that my career 

would be crap if I checked yes and asked for help.’’ Now, that is 

what the guys that I have seen said. 

Senator WYDEN. Well, thank you all for being advocates for vets 

every day. We are grateful. 

Senator SMITH. Let me join my colleague’s commendation to each 

of you. I want you to know your time here is well-spent. It certainly 

has been for me. I know it has, I suspect, for Senator Wyden as 

well. 

You have added immeasurably to the record of the U.S. Senate. 

You have given us a laundry list of things to work on. We take on 

this issue with genuine concern and desire to fix it where we can 

and bind up the wounds and care for those who have borne the battle for our Country’s sake. 

So we are grateful for your time and your attention. We thank 

all who have traveled a long way or short way for being here. 

With that, we are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:05 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROBERT P. CASEY

I want to thank my colleague, Senator Gordon Smith, for chairing this important 

hearing to address mental health care for aging veterans. I look forward to working 

with him through this committee to meet the needs of our aging veterans. 

This hearing could not come at a more important time for veterans’ health care 

in this country. In the coming months and years, the Veterans Administration faces 

the challenge of caring for the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that 

will return home in increasing numbers. Tragically, as the war in Iraq continues 

to escalate with no sign of improvement, we can only expect more casualties, and 

most will be survivors who return home to cope with devastating physical and mental injuries and illnesses as a result of their combat service. 

At the same time, in our efforts to expand our health care system to accommodate 

these young men and women, we must not forget or neglect our duty to our older 

veterans who have served America valiantly in previous wars. Combat veterans 

from World War II and the Korean War are now senior citizens. Many of those who 

served in Vietnam have retired, adding thousands of senior citizens to the VA’s 

health care rolls. Men and women who fought in the Gulf War of 1991 have unique 

physical and mental health care concerns, the evidence of which has appeared in 

the years following the end of that war. We cannot allow our older veterans to suffer 

in our rush to devote health care resources to our returning Operation Enduring 

Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers and Marines. 

Addressing mental health care quality and access is particularly crucial to the 

VA’s plans for the future. The high incidence of mental illness—including depression 

and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—among OEF/OIF veterans has been 

well-documented in recent months. Sadly, patients are not the only victims of these 

terrible diseases—their families suffer as well, particularly children. The emotion 

impact upon children of PTSD suffered by their parent veterans has received very 

little attention and it must be addressed. Many veterans resist admitting their problems and seeking treatment. Mental and emotional illnesses are often not diagnosed 

for months or even years. The VA must prepare for the immediate influx of veterans 

needing treatment, but also for the decades ahead during which post-combat trauma 

in veterans can be identified and treated expediently by qualified, well-trained psychiatrists and other medical professionals. Again, as we address the specific needs 

of OEF/OIF veterans, we must not forget our older veterans, the sacrifices they 

made, and the challenges they encounter as they age. 

Pennsylvania shares many of the geographic and demographic characteristics of 

Oregon that can challenge access to and quality of mental health care for aging veterans. Like Oregon, Pennsylvania has a high rural population—thousands of citizens are spread throughout a large territory, and many have to travel for hours to 

access quality health care. Our state is home to 1.9 million citizens over the age 

of 65, the third largest number of senior citizens per capita of any state in the country. 

In fiscal year 2006, the VA reported that nearly 1.1 million veterans reside in 

Pennsylvania. Over 480,000 were 65 or older. In 2004, the VA spent $2.5 billion on 

health care for veterans in Pennsylvania, and that number continues to increase 

year by year. 

I am grateful to Senator Smith for calling attention to these critical issues and 

I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. We must do whatever is necessary 

to meet the physical, psychological and emotional needs of our veterans and fulfill 

this nation’s promise to our returning heroes of every age. 

80

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM JACK HEIMS

Question. Since Portland is an urban environment and a vibrant city, I would 

imagine that some of these issues may be lessened at this facility, but is this something that you experience? 

How do you attract and retain qualified professionals? 

Answer. Our post training programs remain the major source of hires. We host 

post graduate programs in psychiatry (residency and fellows), psychology (intern 

and post doc), social work, art therapy, nurse practitioner, occupational therapy and 

nursing. 

Others are attracted to the rare environment where clinical missions are shared 

with the missions of education and research. Many like that the business end of 

medicine is taken out of their job description so they can focus on patient care. An 

increasing number are attracted to the concept of serving our Veterans. Also, on an 

increasing basis, a benefits package for Federal Employees becomes a beacon for recruitment. 

Typically, we advertise in various websites and national professional journals. 

Word of mouth by our own employees is our best advertiser. 

Retention is high for all of the aforementioned reasons. More often than not, when 

we lose someone it is to another VA Medical Center. Another factor is the lengths 

we go to to provide ongoing education programs through hosting conferences, grand 

rounds, brown bag seminars and et cetera. 

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM NATHALIE HUGUET

In your testimony you mention that primary care physicians have an important 

role to play in the assessment and management of depression and suicide prevention for veterans. 

Question. What do you think is the most effective way to encourage physicians 

to do this? 

Answer. Primary care physician assessment and management of depression and 

suicide prevention for veterans could be encouraged by expanding reimbursement so 

that primary care providers can implement and sustain evidence-based procedures 

aimed at detection and treatment of veterans with major depressive disorder. Federally funded research projects over the past twenty years have shown that primary 

care providers can do an excellent job at detecting and treating people with major 

depressive disorder. The key to success is inclusion in primary care practices of 

‘‘care managers’’ who have expertise in mental health. Care managers are nurses 

or couselors (usually with masters degrees such as social workers) who follow protocols for detection and treatment of people with depression. Primary care providers 

facilitate treatment by prescribing medication as needed. This care management approach has been well studied and shown to be effective. Unfortunately, this model 

has rarely been sustained owing to lack of reimbursement. Primary care providers 

nowadays are not infrequently in financial difficulty and are unable to sustain evidence-based practices such as care management. Congress should direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide reimbursement for primary care depression detection and management for veterans unable to be served within the Veterans Affairs system. 

Do you think that there is more that could be done in their general training to 

prepare them to identify possible mental illness along with physical illnesses. 

Answer. Primary care training could be expanded to provide education about the 

care management model and to facilitate educational experiences within a care 

management system. Again, lack of reimbursement is the chief obstacle. Academic 

health centers are not able to finance care managers. Congress should direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide funding for academic health centers offering 

care management services to veterans unable to be served within the Veterans Affairs system. 

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM MR. BLACKBURN

In your testimony you mention that there is a lack of supportive housing options 

that ensure stability of chronically homeless veterans. I am a cosponsor of a bill in 

the Senate that would provide services for permanent supportive housing programs 

because I understand how important and effective supportive housing is for this 

hard-to stabilize population. 

Question. How many units of supportive housing do you think we would need to 

better serve our homeless veterans here in Portland? 

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Answer. Project CHALENG (Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups) is an annual survey of VA and local community and 

government agencies serving homeless veterans. The survey assesses the needs of 

homeless vets and rates the coordination of services with the various local partners. 

According to this CHALENG survey, collected in the summer/fall of 2006, there 

are 1856 homeless veterans in Portland, including 587 chronically homeless vets. 

The survey is a self-administered questionnaire completed by the local VA homeless 

veteran coordinator in collaboration with federal, state, county, city, nonprofit and 

for profit agency representatives, as well as local VA staff and homeless veterans. 

The need for permanent supportive housing ranks high as an unmet need. Given 

that the definition of chronically homeless includes 4 or more episodes of homelessness in the last 3 years of 1 continuous year of homelesness and one or more disabilities, we feel comfortable recommending that all 587 of the chronically homeless vets 

could benefit from supportive housing. Supportive housing for this population would 

need to include both housing subsidy and the supportive case management services 

needed to stabilize these individuals and help them access the benefits and entitlements for which they may qualify. The level of supportive services can range from 

minimal, with a check in only once per month, to frequent, with case managers 

needing to see someone several times a week ongoing for multiple years. Our experience working with chronically homeless individuals is that they typically need very 

intensive services over multiple years with step down occurring for short periods of 

time throughout. 

The remaining 1,269 episodically homeless veterans may benefit from limited rent 

assistance needed to acquire their own housing units. One program currently funded 

through the Housing Authority of Portland provides up to 3 months worth of rent 

and covers security deposits so that recipients can stabilize and secure employment. 

This resource has proven quite effective, with 70 percent of individuals served still 

housed one year after they last received rent assistance. 

In Central City Concern’s experience, a high number of homeless veterans experience alcohol or drug addiction. These veterans have a need for transitional Alcohol 

and Drug Free Community clean and sober supportive housing, provided in conjunction with alcohol and drug treatment. We recommend creating 20–30 units of this 

type of housing for homeless veterans. 

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM MR. REILEY

In your testimony you state that claims for care from veterans returning from 

Iraq and Afghanistan have caused claims from other veterans to languish. 

Question. How long are older veterans waiting for services? 

Answer. There are a number of points within the VA system where veterans must 

wait. The three major bottlenecks are: 1) obtaining an initial appointment within 

Veterans Health Administration (VHA); 2) obtaining an appointment with one’s 

VHA Primary Care Provider (PCP); and 3) having one’s claim processed by a Regional Office (RO) of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). 

1) Locally, the Roseburg VA Health Care System (RVAHCS) is usually close to 

the VA’s mandate to enroll veterans within 30 days of receiving their application. 

Enrollment consists of not only processing the application, but scheduling the veteran’s ‘‘Introduction Clinic’’ and initial appointment with their assigned PCP. Recently however, Roseburg has lost one of their enrollment staffers due to retirement 

and initial appointments now are taking approximately 6 weeks to obtain. This is 

understandable, but I am concerned that RVAHCS has had to go through a formal 

process to justify rehiring this position. The results of this process were not known 

as of August 2, 2007. Until this process has been successfully navigated, the position 

cannot be filled and thus I am concerned that the backlog will increase. 

2) Although RVAHCS typically does a good job scheduling initial appointments 

within or close to the goal of 30 days, there are problems accessing follow-up care. 

Often times veterans must wait upwards of four months in order to obtain an appointment with their medical PCP. Locally, the Eugene VA Clinic has moved to a 

‘‘same day appointment’’ system within their mental health clinic. There was some 

discussion about expanding this type of system to the medical side, but I am unaware of any progress towards that end. 

3) Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of seeking services from the VA is the period of time it takes for VBA to adjudicate a claim for service-connected compensation. On the positive side, the Portland Regional Office has developed a program 

called ‘‘Ready to Rate.’’ If a veteran can submit a claim—typically a claim for Nonservice-Connected Pension with Aid and Attendance—which needs no development 

the Portland R.O. will rate that claim within, typically, 14 days. A claim needs no 

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development if there is a complete application, proper proof of service, and evidence 

which satisfies each element of the benefit for which the veteran is applying. In the 

case of pension claims, that often entails a medical statement of disability and need 

for care and proof of long-term care expenses. 

However, the majority of claims filed are for service-connected compensation and 

rarely are these able to be filed as ‘‘Ready to Rate.’’ The barrier to accessing expedited processing for these types of claims is the requirement for VBA to obtain the 

veteran’s service medical records (SMRs) and to determine the nexus, if any, between those conditions detailed in the SMRs and those conditions with which the 

veteran is currently diagnosed. Accordingly, claims for service connected compensation typically take from 9 to 12 months in Oregon. 

Some cases can take significantly longer than the average. Often time, claims for 

service connection for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) take some of the longest periods to obtain a decision from VBA. It appears the problem is the time it 

takes for VBA to verify the military stressor which the veteran experienced which 

has lead to the development of PTSD. If the veteran does not have documentation 

of a military stressor, or an award which allows VBA to concede the stressor, the 

Regional Office must request verification from JSRCC (formerly USACURR). The 

local RO submits a request for verification and then will calendar the file for review 

every 60 days. Unfortunately, this part of the process alone can take a year. Furthermore, only upon stressor verification will the RO further develop the claim 

which will include a request for a mental health evaluation to determine if the veteran has PTSD and upon completion of the development may the claim be adjudicated. 

Question. How would you describe the impact from the backlog on older veterans? 

Answer. The impact on the VBA claims backlog is significant and manifold. Many 

older veterans must first be recognized to have a compensable service connected 

condition before they are eligible for VA health care. Thus the delays in claims adjudication results in a delay in their ability to receive health care. 

Also, many veterans try to be self-sufficient for as long as possible and so only 

file a claim for service connection when a condition becomes unbearable. This often 

also coincides with when the condition negatively impacts their employment abilities and thus they may be suffering financial hardship when they initiate a claim. 

Waiting many months for a determination of eligibility can thus lead to the loss of 

one’s home or other severe financial ramifications. 

Finally, there are many ramification of a less tangible nature. The long delays inherent in the claims process are seen by many veterans as based on an underlying 

lack of commitment by our government to assist those that served our country in 

times when they are in need. This leads to the often heard, yet still upsetting comments from veterans that, ‘‘The VA is just waiting until I die so they don’t have 

to help me.’’

Veterans in rural areas have the added burden of having to travel great distances 

to receive care at a veterans’ facility. This is a challenge for all rural veterans, particularly elderly veterans. 

Question. How prevalent are the transportation issues for the veterans you work 

within Lane County? 

Answer. The transportation issues for veterans in Lane County are there, but not 

to the degree of other counties that have no VA facilities. Lane County veterans 

often face difficulty if they must travel to Roseburg or Portland for specialty care. 

Also, west Lane County residents sometimes have difficulty traveling to Eugene for 

primary care appointments. While those in Eugene-Springfield have access to the 

DAV van which runs up and down the I–95 corridor connecting VA facilities. Those 

outside the Williamette Valley are left to their own devices. 

Question. How is your agency preparing for the expected increase in the number 

of older veterans as the baby-boom generation ages? 

Answer. Lane County Veteran Services certainly recognizes the average age of 

veterans is increasing—please see my previously submitted written materials for demographic details of Lane County veterans over the next 10 years. 

As for preparing for the increases in older veterans, we have systems currently 

in place which will serve such veterans well, but there are concerns about our ability to continue these services. In January, 2006, additional State funds were transferred to Oregon counties in ‘‘expand and enhance’’ veteran services. These new 

funds, coupled with traditional support from Lane County, and the Cities of Eugene 

and Springfield, allowed us to increase our staffing levels and markedly increase our 

outreach efforts. Lane County Veteran Service Counselors now travel to Florence on 

a weekly basis and travel to Cottage Grove, Oakridge, Junction City, and Blue River 

once per month. The veterans seen during these outreach efforts are typically older 

and less able to either physically of financially afford to travel to our office. While 

83

in these local communities, our counselors will also conduct home visits or visits to 

veterans in long-term care facilities. Furthermore, once per week a counselor will 

also conduct local outreach to housebound or facility-resident veterans in the Eugene-Springfield area. 

But these services are in jeopardy. Lane County is facing a shortfall of up to 30 

percent of its discretionary General Fund due to the possible loss of federal funding 

provided through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act 

(SRS) (PL 106–393 and its recent extension of 2007). If federal funding is not made 

available under this or some similar program which recognizes the inability of Lane 

County to tax the large tracts of federal lands within its borders, the county will 

face financial crisis. If such a situation were to come to pass, the county would likely 

focus on its primary and mandated services—public safety. Under a recent potential 

budget which was premised on the loss of the SRS funding, the Lane County Veteran Service Office was reduced to only one staff person. Such a situation would obviously wreak havoc on the office’s ability to serve Lane County’s 35,000+ veterans. 

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM KEVIN CAMPBELL

In your testimony you state that bringing mental health services to those in need 

is the best response for serving rural populations. 

Question. Can you explain how you do that—are you essentially talking about 

house calls from mental health providers? 

What sort of outreach have you seen with the VA to the rural areas to help soldiers identify and access care? 

Answer. No, I was not implying that mental health providers should be required 

to make house calls. What I am referring to is making services available to veterans 

in their home communities rather than forcing them to travel up to a hundred miles 

to access services in the nearest mental health clinic or well over a hundred miles 

to access services from a VA Clinic. Our efforts to bring services to veterans rather 

than force veterans to travel to services can best be summed up by three strategies: 

Better use of technology. We are utilizing two way video, tele-health, technology 

throughout Eastern Oregon at the present time. This technology allows access to 

specialized services with high quality resolution. 

Better use of natural supports such as peers who live in the community. Establishing peer support networks in smaller communities which assist veterans and 

their families in meeting challenges as they arise. Peer to Peer Support is often 

times the timeliest and effective treatment to conditions as they arise and it needs 

to be supported. 

Better use of Case Management for veterans and their families. Case Management is a valuable service which connects the veterans and their family to service 

providers who can best meet a variety of needs. Case Management services can 

often be provided by the telephone. 

In your testimony, you also mention that there has been a drop in the number 

of physicians willing to accept Tri-Care Insurance due to low reimbursement payments. 

Question. Are low VA and Tri-Care reimbursement rates resulting in access issues 

for military families? 

What type of incentives do you think are necessary for attracting and keeping 

mental health professionals and physicians in rural areas? 

Answer. My written testimony included the following; ‘‘Once veterans are determined to be eligible for benefits, services are often times many miles away, access 

is commonly delayed by a preauthorization process, and many providers no longer 

accept Tri-Care Insurance due to difficulty being paid for their services. Payment 

rates are often so low that private practitioners are unable to provide services because the payment does not cover the cost of the needed services.’’

In using the term, ‘‘private practitioners’’, I did not imply that only physicians 

were concerned about payment rates. When mental health practitioners do not see 

people with insurance, these individuals come to the public mental health system 

for service. Low reimbursement rates lead to cost shifting or dependence on state 

and local funds to continue to support the service. By mirroring Medicare rates, TriCare has a disproportionate impact on rural practitioners. Increased numbers of veterans has stressed the system. 

Oregon recently passed a law to give tax credits to physicians who accept Tricare. 

Under the new law, physicians can claim a $2,500 tax credit the first year they accept patients under the federal Tricare health system and $1,000 for each following 

year. 

84

Continuation of programs such as the National Health Service Corps is essential 

to recruiting Mental Health Professionals in Rural areas. Reimbursement Rates 

must be adequate to maintain these professionals in rural areas. While housing is 

often times less expensive, gas and food are significantly more expensive in rural 

areas and it is not cheaper to live in a rural community than in the city. 

RESPONSES TO SENATOR SMITH’S QUESTIONS FROM STU STEINBERG

Unfortunately, the stigma associated with mental illness deters many soldiers and 

veterans from seeking help. 

Question. What do you think the Department of Defense and VA could and should 

do to help overcome the stigma associated with mental illness? 

Answer. The DOD must insure that all soldiers can seek mental health care without fear for their career. To the extent that the military denies this is occurring, 

it is simply a lie. One only need listen to the NPR story about soldiers at Ft. Carson, 

CO, to verify that this is occurring. Moreover, I have several recent returnee clients 

who have told me the same thing. They check ‘‘no’’ to every question asked about 

PTSD symptoms on their post-deployment questionnaire because it has been made 

very clear to them that their career will be negatively impacted if they say they 

have PTSD or other mental health symptoms. It has now been established that 

since the beginning of the two recent wars, the military is doing everything it can 

to discharge soldiers with personality disorders in order to deny them medical 

boards and retirement benefits or severance pay—the number is approximately 

22,000 soldiers. We saw this happen over and over again during Vietnam. I have 

a case now where an Iraq veteran was treated in Iraq for PTSD at the Combat 

Stress Facility, then transferred to Germany for further treatment. There, he was 

diagnosed with a Bipolar disorder which mysteriously existed prior to his enlistment 

more than four years earlier. Needless to say, you aren’t Bipolar one day and then 

not have symptoms for more than four years and suddenly you have it again. Even 

if he did have it prior to enlistment, it is clear that what he had in Iraq was PTSD. 

Because it is now an EPTE thing, he gets no VA benefits because he had less than 

24 months on active duty. 

As far as the VA is concerned, I see no Stigma issue on that front. 

The importance of addressing mental health problems in a timely manner cannot 

be overstated. If ignored, they can result in much more severe problems for the veterans and their loved ones. 

Answer. The VA is where the problem is, here. There are too few programs, not 

enough staff and there are waiting lists for initial intake and referral for individual 

and group treatment. This is particularly a problem at the CBOCs where the need 

is greatest and clients have to wait for treatment, sometimes for many months. The 

VA needs to stop building new facilities and use their funds for hiring more staff 

and treatment. It is just that simple. Every medical center and CBOC should have 

a PTSD/mental health program and every medical center should have an inpatient 

program. As far as I know, the Portland/Vancouver facility does not have an inpatient PTSD programs. In addition, since substance abuse and alcoholism are often 

symptomatic of PTSD, it is criminal in my opinion that every medical center does 

not have an inpatient program and that every CBOC does not have an addictions 

therapist. Someone from the VA at the hearing stated that outpatient treatment 

works better. This is the most incredible load I have heard recently since any addictions thereapist or counselor will tell you that long-term addictions problems always

require inpatient care before outpatient care is a possibility. Furthermore, without 

addictions therapists at the CBOCs, aftercare does not occur, thus, creating a situation where relapse is probable. 

Question. Based on your experience, how long do some veterans wait for the care 

they need? 

Answer. Months and in some cases I have seen it take as long as a year for admission to a PTSD group. Moreover, it is simply not useful to have individual therapy occurring on a monthly or even a lesser occasion. Every veteran with a mental 

health diagnosis should have the benefit of weekly therapy, bi-weekly at the outside. 

No veteran who wants group therapy should have to wait longer than a month. 

Claims by the CA that they are providing adequate mental health care are belied 

by reports of veteran after veteran of having to wait inordinate lengths of time, or 

not receiving adequate care. They can’t all be liars. 

Question. What other barriers to access and services do you see? 

Answer. Lack of funding, lack of funding, lack of funding. 

Question. What would help bring down these barriers? 

Answer. More funding, more funding, more funding. 

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One of my priorities is to ensure that veterans of all ages and eras have access 

to quality mental health services and receive treatment in a timely manner. 

Question. How have you seen the delivery of services for older veterans impacted 

in the past few years when soldiers began returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? 

Answer. I really haven’t seen this problem occur at the Bend CBOC. Veterans 

from all conflicts face the same problem of too few staff and not enough funds to 

make mental health and addictions care meaningful. 

Question. What specific improvements would have the biggest impact on improving mental health services for veterans in Oregon? 

Answer. More funding and, therefore, more staff. I hate to keep harping on the 

same issue over and over, but that’s the simple truth. Maybe if the Army wasn’t 

funding professional auto racing teams, such as their Top Fuel Dragster and Pro 

Stock Motorcycle teams in the National Hod Rod Association, the VA could put that 

money to better use. This is costing the American taxpayer millions of dollars each 

year.

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