By Julie Sherwood
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson will be at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center Friday to talk about the Veterans Crisis Line. The visit Feb. 26 will be “to review progress at the Veterans Crisis Line” — including expanded staff and facilities of the national hotline based in Canandaigua — that “build on changes already made to strengthen hotline offices,” according to a release Thursday from VA.
The visit comes on the heels of a report issued Feb. 11 showing some veterans and their families who called the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua didn’t actually talk with a trained responder. Their calls instead went to voicemail. Other complaints in the report, signed by Assistant Inspector General for Healthcare Inspections John Daigh Jr., claim callers do not always receive immediate assistance and that staff members who do answer calls are not properly trained to meet the needs of their callers, or to marshal resources needed to meet crises.
The Veterans Crisis Line was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary a year ago. In an emailed statement responding to the report, Gibson said the VA had taken action to strengthen the operation long before the publication of the report. Gibson also said the Veterans Crisis Line is staffed by committed, hardworking employees who save veterans’ lives every day.
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