According to a press release from Senator Mark Kirk’s office, Kirk is calling for the firing of Dr. Mary Schohn, Director of Mental Health Operations for the VA’s Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA). The firing was implored for in a letter to Robert McDonald, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affiars.
Several government bureaus, including the VA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have found patterns of failure and disregard for improvements within VA call centers. More specifically, Kirk focused on the suicide hotline.
A recent report that instigated this demand from Senator Kirk comes from a report from the VA office of the Inspector General. This office found that veterans who called the VA Crisis Hotline, which is supposed to on watch 24/7, were directed instead to a voicemail box with many finding those messages unreturned.
Kirk wrote to McDonald: “You’ve often stated that you are changing the culture at the VA. There can be no higher order within the VA than taking seriously the suicide rates of our service men and women when they return from the battlefield. Use the authority you have to demonstrate that repeated failure at the VA is unacceptable by firing Dr. Schohn, and consider replacing her with someone from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a government agency that is using a suicide hotline effectively.”
Kirk notes that these failures have been noted for almost two years now. He writes: “The VA’s Office of Mental Health Services and Operations, which oversees the VCL program, has been aware of these unacceptable examples of disregard for veterans dating back to at least April 28, 2014.
“At that time, the Coalition of Veterans Organizations wrote a letter to then-Secretary Eric Shinseki expressing concern over documented occurrences in which the VCL was ‘seriously deficient,’ citing the familiar examples of extended wait times and poorly trained staff.” The letter from which these quotes were taken was published on February 22.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief