{"id":13834,"date":"2019-05-03T20:02:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/michael-e-debakey-va-medical-center-expands-mental-health-services-to-help-local-veterans\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T15:05:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:05:04","slug":"michael-e-debakey-va-medical-center-expands-mental-health-services-to-help-local-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/michael-e-debakey-va-medical-center-expands-mental-health-services-to-help-local-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center expands mental health services to help local veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"
A mental health care center at The Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MEDVAMC) is expanding much-needed services for Houston-area veterans including same-day appointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much care that went into the designing and building of this building. It really comes from our care and respect of our veterans,\u201d said Laura Marsh, M.D.<\/a>, executive director of the Mental Health Care Line at MEDVAMC said during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday to celebrate the opening. \u201cWe wanted it to be a calm and welcoming place of healing\u2014not so much like a hospital, but a place where there\u2019s work to be done together where mental health is good medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n The new facility at 2002 Holcombe Blvd. will house a variety of mental health programs including a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) program, neuropsychology, veterans justice outreach and behavioral health as well as the newly added marriage and family counseling.<\/p>\n In the past year and a half, the institution has added more than 400 nurses, 55 physicians and 90 mental health providers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take our mission with the utmost commitment and seriousness because delivering health care is very complex,\u201d said Frank Vazquez<\/a>, MEDVAMC medical center director. \u201cIt\u2019s up to us here at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center to keep up the promise and the commitment we made to you\u2014the veterans\u2014when you signed your name on the line that we are going to care for you for the rest of your life. We\u2019re going to offer you world-class care. We\u2019re going to strive to get better each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Mental health is a major concern among the active duty military and veterans. There’s an increasing focus as more service members from Operation Enduring Freedom (2001), Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) and Operation New Dawn (2010) receive health care, according to a 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine<\/a>. A 2014 study published in JAMA Psychiatry <\/em>showed that nearly one in four active duty members demonstrate signs of at least one mental health condition. Three of the most common mental health concerns are PTSD, depression and traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n