The V.A. Tries to Get Beyond Its Culture of No

The V.A. Tries to Get Beyond Its Culture of No
By LAWRENCE DOWNES
Published: July 16, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department says that it is not only making strides in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries and in preventing suicides, but is also upending its reputation for bureaucratic delays and unresponsiveness.

It is easy to be skeptical. But then there is this: a small wing of a V.A. hospital in Canandaigua, N.Y., where a staff of about 120 runs a national phone and Internet chat service for veterans in crisis. Its mission is to connect veterans to help as quickly and efficiently as possible. One online-chat counselor, Laurie Courtney, told me proudly that this was “the new V.A.” She and three colleagues, in a brightly lighted room with barely enough space for their computers, chairs, coats and handbags, handle online conversations all day. Dozens of others staff the phone lines.

Their work has the relentlessness of battlefield medicine, with pleas for help coming from all sides. One Vietnam veteran has struggled with survivor’s guilt for 43 years. Another has lost his job and his marriage, and agrees to try V.A.-sponsored therapy, “if it will stop these dreams.” Transcripts of the chats, redacted for privacy, show counselors using gentle questions and encouragement: “How can I help you?” “It sounds like you have some good friends.” “Thank you for your service.” “I’m going to have someone call you right now.”
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The V.A. Tries to Get Beyond Its Culture of No

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