Letter to Robert McDonald, Secretary US Department of Veterans Affairs - Veterans Suicide Assitance

Letter

Dear Secretary McDonald,

We write to you today to address a grave issue facing our nation's veterans. Currently, when veterans call a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), they are instantly greeted with an automated message. As part of this message, veterans are encouraged to hang-up and dial 911 if they are experiencing a medical or mental health emergency. Further, if veterans are having thoughts of hurting themselves or want to talk to a mental health professional, they are directed to hang-up again and dial 1-800-273-8255 and press option "1".

Our concern stems from the antiquated process of taking down that 1-800 number, hanging up, calling again, and pressing option "1". This is onerous for a veteran who might be in a fragile mental state. One call to the VAMC may be the only call the veteran has the strength to make and an option to press "1" to be connected to the mental health helpline could ensure that we can work together to save a veteran's life.

In order to address this issue and work towards an expedient fix, we ask that you answer the following questions which will help to find an appropriate remedy:

What are the costs associated with this fix?

What is the current timeline to implementing a simplified phone system, nationwide?

What are the current roadblocks (fiscal, technological, logistical) to implementing this type of system nationwide?

We look forward to working with you and your office to address this simple and pressing issue.