By
Bob Brewin
That figure -- 419,000 vets form the Afghanistan and Iraq wars -- staggers the mind, especially when you consider that this is 61 percent above the number the Veterans Affairs Department treated in its 153 hospitals and more than 1,110 outpatient clinics in 2008, according to the report on the Senate version of the VA fiscal 2010 appropriations bill passed on Tuesday.
That figure -- 419,000 vets form the Afghanistan and Iraq wars -- staggers the mind, especially when you consider that this is 61 percent above the number the Veterans Affairs Department treated in its 153 hospitals and more than 1,110 outpatient clinics in 2008, according to the report on the Senate version of the VA fiscal 2010 appropriations bill passed on Tuesday.
The Senate appropriated $2.1 billion in the current fiscal year to VA for veterans health care and emphasized that this funding includes treatment for invisible wounds such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
To manage this huge increase in patient load, the Senate adopted a floor amendment to the VA bill directing the department to conduct a study on how to improve its information technology infrastructure to deliver services to veterans using telehealth systems.
The House, in its version of the bill, directed VA to set up a 24/7 call center staffed by combat veterans to help provide PTSD treatment.
Sometimes, as I have learned, combat stress problems can be handled by one vet talking to another.