934,925 Veterans being treated by VA for PTSD

VA studies: PTSD care inconsistent
By Chris Adams McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs, which touts its special programs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in returning soldiers, spends little on those programs in some parts of the country, and some of its efforts fail to meet some of the VA's own goals, according to internal reports obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.

In fiscal year 2006, the reports show, some of the VA's specialized PTSD units spent a fraction of what the average unit did. Five medical centers — in California, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wisconsin — spent about $100,000 on their PTSD clinical teams, less than one-fifth the national average.

The documents also show that while the VA's treatment for PTSD is generally effective, nearly a third of the agency's inpatient and other intensive PTSD units failed to meet at least one of the quality goals monitored by a VA health-research organization. The VA medical center in Lexington, Ky., failed to meet four of six quality goals, according to the internal reports.
A top VA mental-health official dismissed the reports' significance, saying veterans receive adequate care, either in specialized PTSD units or from general mental-health providers. In addition, he said, some of the spending differences aren't as extreme as the documents indicate, and the department is working to increase its resources for mental health treatment.
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Do you still think we don't have a serious problem in this country? Not even close. Think of how many are not even counted. Until a claim is approved, they do not count it. Then you also have to consider too many are still not even sure what PTSD and have not gone for help of any sort. Then you have to also add in those who have PTSD but mild right now and do not see it as a problem but they will when the secondary stressor hits them later in life.

The older veterans are going from seeing their doctors once a month to once every three months, if they're lucky. Is any of this serving the veterans who would not need their wounds taken care of if they did not serve?

Forgive me but I'm posting this on the other blog too.