In the News
Primary Care-Mental Health Integration in VHA
The Veterans Health Administration has embarked on a broad national initiative to integrate primary care and mental health services. The reason for the initiative is to “integrate care for veterans’ physical and mental health conditions, improving access and quality of care across the spectrum of illness severity and allowing treatment in mental health specialty settings to focus on persons with more severe mental illnesses.” The initiative involves over 90 VHA sites, who select appropriate evidence-based models focused on integrated mental health-primary care for the most common mental disorders seen in the VHA (depression, alcohol use disorders, and PTSD).
Faculty from HSOT/SMITREC involved in this initiative include Dr. Edward Post, MD. PhD (Medical Director) and Dr. John McCarthy, PhD (Lead Evaluator).
