Mental Health Summit
Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center to Host a Mental Health Summit
Opening the lines of communications between mental health care providers of the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the local community will expand and improve health care for DC-area Veterans. That’s the goal of the 2016 Mental Health Summit to be held Thursday, September 15, 2016 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC.
This is the fourth year the medical center has hosted the event that brings the VA and community partners together to help Veterans in the National Capital Region.
According to the summit’s coordinator, Chief, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics—Mental Health Dr. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, this year’s summit will be better than ever due to the large number of community partners participating.
“This is a chance to get everyone in the same room—in this case the auditorium at the beautiful new Saint Elizabeths Hospital,” said Dr. Ritchie.
Often the local community providers perceive the VA as an isolated “fortress on a hill”. It can be hard for them to know who in the VA to call to get services for a patient.
“Community providers may not know about the Vet Centers or Community-Based Outpatient Clinics or the Community Resource and Referral Center for Veterans with housing issues,” she explains.
"Likewise, VA providers often have little idea of the services provided by the Washington DC Department of Behavioral such as the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program and the Mobile Crisis Team, or by the Core Service Agencies” said Dr. Ritchie.
Events like this are important to Veterans and the community. The Mental Health Summit offers local subject matter experts a platform to collaborate to advance health care and to share information and resources that will provide expanded opportunities to Veterans, their families and caregivers. The initiatives birthed from the event will enhance access to mental health care and collaborative services for Veterans in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
2016 Mental Health Summit participants and presenters:
Mental health professionals from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Department of Mental Health and Catholic University, including: Dr. David Jobes, Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of Clinical Training, Catholic University of America; Dr. Harold Kudler, Chief Consultant for Mental Health Services, Department of Veterans Affairs; Dr. Cheryl Loman, Chief Mental Health Officer, VA Capital Health Care Network; and Dr. Richard McKeon, Chief, Suicide Prevention Branch, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In addition, several selected local resources and programs will join in the summit including: Serving Together, Maryland Core Service Agencies, Give an Hour, Military Sexual Trauma and the Warrior Canine Connection.
Media wishing to coordinate an interview, please contact the Office of Public Affairs, 202-745-4037. If a provider would like to attend, they should contact Gloria.Hairston@va.gov. or Gwendolyn.Smalls@va.gov.
If a provider would like to attend, they should contact Dwala.Willis-McCray@va.gov or Gwendolyn.Smalls@va.gov.
About Saint Elizabeths:
The Mental Health Summit will be held in the Saint Elizabeths auditorium, located at 1100 Alabama Avenue, S.E. in Washington, DC, 20032
