IFHC's PURPOSE
The Institute of Federal Health Care is a nonprofit 501c3 entity that stimulates and promotes analysis, interaction and dialogue on critical issues in healthcare.
It works to enhance communication among public- and private-sector officials and to provide insights that can help them translate innovative thinking into policy and practical application. IFHC also promotes critical and creative thinking among leaders of the future.
SPOTLIGHT ON PROGRAMS OF NOTE
Presenting ideas and initiatives in federal agencies that entail collaborative effort, could serve as a model for others, or represent a new and exciting approach to some aspect of healthcare.
VA Suicide-Prevention Hotline Program Reaches Out To Help Veterans
I am very pleased to announce a new initiative designed to help us more effectively assist veterans in crisis.
Michael J. Kussman, MD
Under Secretary for
Health Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans and other residents of metropolitan Washington, D.C., are seeing advertisements for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ suicide prevention hotline on buses and inside subway cars and stations. We’ve taken this unusual step because we are determined to do all we can to address the tragic problem of suicide among veterans.
The red-white-and-blue displays are the centerpiece of a three-month outreach campaign highlighting the hotline, which operates around the clock seven days a week at 1-800-273-TALK. If the campaign is successful in raising awareness, we plan to extend it to other parts of the country. In Washington, 80 buses, 220 subway cars and 14 subway stations will carry the displays until mid-October. We will track any increase in calls to the hotline from telephone numbers in the Washington metropolitan area.
Other suicide prevention initiatives include the expansion of hours at VA’s 153 medical facilities to care for veterans with mental health problems; the hiring of suicide prevention counselors at each VA medical center; and special training programs for all VA employees in medical centers and clinics to alert them to warning signs in veterans for suicide and other emotional problems. Our latest outreach to veterans and their families about suicide prevention soon will include public service ads, featuring actor Gary Sinese, encouraging veterans in crisis to seek help.
Since it was established a year ago, the suicide prevention hotline has received more than 55,000 calls. Of those, more than 1,200 were “rescues,” meaning VA contacted emergency services to locate the caller and provide immediate help. Clearly, the hotline is making a difference, and increased awareness may make it an even more powerful way to assist veterans.
These and all our outreach efforts are designed to inform veterans at risk for suicide that they are not alone. We sincerely believe, and we hope veterans do as well, in the ad campaign’s theme that it takes the strength and courage of a warrior to ask for help. This campaign will ensure that if they need help, veterans know where to turn.
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IFHC Roundtable Discussion
Examining Collaborative Efforts
In STD Screening and Treatment
Sexually transmitted infections pose continuing challenges for both civilian and military public health efforts. How can collaboration between these two sectors be enhanced, and how can difficult problems such as resistant gonorrhea and climbing rates of chlamydia best be addressed?
Read the summary of our roundtable discussion.
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IFHC MANAGING DIRECTOR
NANCY TOMICH
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