EL PASO, TEXAS -- Congressman Beto O’Rourke returned home on Wednesday to officially begin construction on a new VA mental health clinic. Here is s statement from O'Rourke's Senate campaign:
As part of his successful initiatives to expand care and services for veterans, the member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity broke ground at the new Medical Center of America’s (MCA) VA Mental Health Clinic in El Paso. The clinic is a direct product of the Congressman's on-the-ground advocacy and innovative pilot program that he created to better serve veterans.
The new facility will house all mental health services for the El Paso VA, serving over 7,000 veterans in the region with programs designed specifically to prioritize service-related health conditions. These include Monitored Treatment, Substance Use Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder programs. Beyond directly serving our veterans, the MCA’s VA Mental Health Clinic will also host a Wellness Center where medical residents from the nearby Texas Technical University Health Science Center El Paso will be able to participate in an innovative teaching partnership program. The 33,000 square foot clinic that broke ground today is expected to be completed next year.
"I’m proud that El Paso is using our history and tradition as a military community to lead the way on improving access to veteran health care," said Congressman O’Rourke at today's historic groundbreaking. "This is another great step towards ensuring every veteran receives the care, services and attention they deserve after serving our country."
The groundbreaking follows years in which O'Rourke led a collaborative effort to work with local veterans, community health providers and federal officials including those at the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand access to mental health care by bringing this new medical facility to the El Paso community. Identifying ways to create tangible change with lifesaving results for El Paso, O'Rourke met with then VA Undersecretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin in 2015 to present a formal proposal that he put together for additional care, resources and facilities in the community. Convening local, state and federal leaders, Congressman O'Rourke then announced his idea for a formal pilot program at a press conference in November of 2015. It was successful and the MCA was ultimately awarded the permanent project in March of 2017.
Asking to serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee when he was first elected to Congress in 2012, O’Rourke has been committed to making mental health care more accessible and decreasing wait times within the El Paso VA system. Shortly after he was sworn in, the average wait time for a mental health care appointment at the El Paso VA was 64 days. Today, it’s down to five days, on par with and better than the national average. O’Rourke also worked with officials on the ground and in Washington to better staff the VA so more veterans could receive higher quality care in a timely manner. Personally recruiting individuals from across the nation, the Congressman increased the number of full time mental health employees at the El Paso VA from 68 in 2013 to 116 at the start of 2018. The Congressman has also been a consistent advocate for concentrating on specialized mental health care treatment like the programs that will be housed in the new facility.
Today’s groundbreaking comes only a few months after O'Rourke's successful legislative efforts to expand access to mental health care for veterans nationwide. He authoredbipartisan legislationto open up mental health care services for those who were previously prevented from stepping foot in a VA because of the status of their discharge. This bipartisan proposal passed the House, passed the Senate and was signed into law back in March, expanding care and saving lives at a time when 20 veterans a day are taking their own lives. O'Rourke also led an effort to ensure every separating service member receives a mental health assessment prior to transitioning to civilian life, helping to identify and treat conditions related to their service. This congressional action has also successfully passed both chambers and been signed into law by President Donald Trump. In addition to holding monthly public town halls in El Paso, O'Rourke also hosts regular veterans forums where he can share his progress, hear new ideas, take on additional casework and be held accountable by those he's sworn to serve.