VA to step up mental health support for Defense

The Veterans Affairs Department is working to expand the mental health support it offers the Pentagon on a pilot basis into larger-scale programs, including telehealth services, VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts said.

VA and the Defense Department are establishing the clinical, logistical and operational processes necessary for larger projects, Roberts said. Both departments are "actively engaged in this mission-critical initiative to serve those in our military who need mental health services, and to ensure these mental health services are available to those that need them via face-to-face care or telehealth, as appropriate," she added.

On Thursday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, said he wanted to start up a virtual behavioral health program with Veterans Affairs "as soon as possible," in which VA mental health professionals counsel soldiers remotely using personal computers connected by video teleconferencing links. Chiarelli said he needed VA's assistance because the Army does not have enough of its own clinicians to handle its behavioral health caseload.

Roberts said VA already has extensive experience in providing telehealth services. The department has budgeted $163 million for such services in fiscal 2011, up $41.8 million or 34.5 percent from fiscal 2010.