This letter features reporting from "Canceled Appointments, Unexplained Mixups – Veterans Facing Challenges Getting VA Mental Health Care" by Patricia Kime, and from "The Department of Veterans Affairs' 2023 Hiring Spree: A Lot of Psychiatrists" by Rebecca Kheel
Dear Senator Jerry Moran,
Mental health in veterans is an issue that’s being concerningly overlooked and underfunded in our nation. It’s crucial that we make sure that mental health services are accessible to those who need it the most, with nearly 11% of our nation’s 18.1 million veterans expressing interest in and need for mental health services at local Veterans Affairs (VA) centers.
In “Canceled Appointments, Unexplained Mixups – Veterans Facing Challenges Getting VA Mental Health Care,” author Patricia Kime explores the difficulty veterans face when seeking mental and behavioral health services from the VA. Using stories and interviews with veterans, the article reports that appointments to receive psychiatric care are often canceled and postponed. After working up the courage to reach out despite the stigma around mental health, veterans are forced to wait months after multiple appointment cancellations to get the care they need. According to VA data, the rate of mental health appointment cancellation averaged 10.6% from 2020 to 2023, and the rate from non-VA data of U.S. hospitals showed a rate of 21%. Consistent appointment cancellations disrupt the continuity of care, eventually worsening veterans’ mental health and even contributing to the average of 6,392 veterans who died by suicide in 2021, and the suicide rate of veteran women being 166.1% higher than that of non-veteran women. Trust between care providers and veterans is crucial to mental health and suicide prevention, and the disorganized mental health care systems in our hospitals break that trust.
I’ve seen firsthand how frustrating appointment cancellations can be to patients and the toll they take on veterans’ mental health. The problem stems from staff shortages and mismanagement, causing VA workers to be stretched thin in their efforts to coordinate patients. In fact, 66 out of the VA’s 140 health systems reported a shortage of psychiatric care providers. In the article “The Department of Veterans Affairs' 2023 Hiring Spree: A Lot of Psychiatrists,” author Rebecca Kheel reports that psychiatry has been one of the VA’s “top five clinical shortfalls since at least 2018.” As a result, VA systems have been increasing psychiatry hires, but this increase has still not resolved the extreme shortage of mental health care providers for veterans. In fact, this is projected to worsen, with a predicted shortage of 42,130 psychiatrists over the next decade and a half. As more and more veterans need mental health care, the shortage of providers poses a problem to veterans’ mental health. Our veterans need and deserve high quality, easily accessible mental health care, and the lack of available providers causes mismanaged scheduling and cumulative appointment cancellations.
Senator Moran, you raised concerns about the quality and standards of the VA’s healthcare workforce as a ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, ensuring that medical practitioners would be qualified to provide care following the signing of the PACT Act. However, the pressing issue of veterans’ mental health care and the understaffed psychiatry department of VA healthcare centers remains. The recent hiring push for quality healthcare professionals is a step in the right direction, but mental health should be further prioritized. Sustained funding and resources are required to provide consistent and sufficient care, therefore, I propose funding through initiatives to retain current staff, and expand mental health care access in underserved areas, particularly rural regions where veterans often face longer wait times. Additionally, I urge you to support and encourage legislation that implements stronger staff accountability measures and an improved scheduling system within the VA, ensuring that veterans get timely care. This could be done through partnerships between the VA and local community health providers, with supporting programs that incorporate veteran-specific mental health services that are accessible. As a student, I can tell that you care about the well-being and health of our country’s veterans, so I encourage you to advocate for mental health services.
Sincerely,
Keerthi Eraniyan

Keerthi Eraniyan is a student at California High School. She loves writing, reading, and sharing her voice through journalism and advocacy. Outside of school, Keerthi serves as your local debating, book-reading, nerd extraordinaire who enjoys singing and hanging out with her friends in her free time.
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