St. Cloud VA to expand mental health staff

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ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki recently announced the department would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce. VA estimates that 7 additional clinicians and 2 support personnel will be hired to support mental health operations at the St. Cloud VA. Recruitment for those positions is underway.

“If in need of immediate assistance, Veterans should not wait to seek care,” said Dr. Sherrie Herendeen, Director of Mental Health at the St. Cloud VA. “We are strongly committed to meeting the mental health needs of our Veterans and have the processes in place to get them the care they need.”

Currently, 226 mental health clinicians and support staff work locally supporting central Minnesota Veterans at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Alexandria, Brainerd, and Montevideo.

The St. Cloud VA has seen a 29% increase in the number of Veterans receiving mental health services since 2006, and has increased mental health staff by 62% in the same period, Dr. Herendeen said.

To use VA health care, Veterans must apply for enrollment. To apply, Veterans should contact a County Veteran Service Officer, call the St. Cloud VA at 320-255-6340, or apply online at www.1010ez.med.va.gov. Immediate help is available anytime at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net or by calling the Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (push 1) or texting 838255.

Interested mental health care providers can find additional information about VA careers online at www.va.careers.va.gov. Open positions, including those at the St. Cloud VA, can be viewed online at USA Jobs (www.usajobs.gov).

With each additional mental health care provider, the St. Cloud VA could potentially reach hundreds more Veterans battling mental illness. New providers will join a team that is already actively treating Veterans through individualized care, readjustment counseling, and immediate crisis services. Additional staff members also afford opportunities to look long-term and expand into cutting edge Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) research and to explore alternative therapies.

Secretary Shinseki noted that “as the tide of war recedes, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to anticipate the needs of returning Veterans.”

VA anticipates the majority of mental health clinicians and support staff will be hired locally within approximately six months and the most hard-to-fill positions filled by March 2013. To speed the hiring process, VA developed the Mental Health Hiring Initiative to improve marketing, recruitment, and hiring efforts for mental health professionals so that the new 1,600 mental health providers can be hired as quickly as possible. The initiative is an aggressive, multi-faceted, sustained national marketing and outreach campaign that includes targeted recruitment of mental health providers willing to take positions in rural and highly rural markets, as well as throughout the nation to serve all VA medical centers and community clinics.

“Mental health services must be closely aligned with Veterans’ needs and fully integrated with health care facility operations,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel. “Improving access to mental health services will help support the current and future Veterans who depend on VA for these vital services.”

Last year, VA provided quality, specialty mental health services to 1.3 million Veterans. Since 2009, VA has increased the mental health care budget by 39 percent. Since 2007, VA has seen a nationwide 35 percent increase in the number of Veterans receiving mental health services, and a 41 percent increase in mental health staff.

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