ROOTSTOWN, Ohio — Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral C. Forrest Faison, III M.D. is the Navy's 38th Surgeon General. He's also a Rocky River native and previously had been senior vice president for research & innovation/chief healthcare strategy officer at Cleveland State University.
Thursday, he spoke at the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) as part of the VITALS Visionary Health Leadership in Action series.
He challenged students to start thinking of ways to not only help the nation's veterans, but also vulnerable populations.
"In Iraq and Afghanistan we had the highest combat survival in recorded history, and we have data going back to the revolutionary war, if you had a survivable injury on the battlefield, you had a 97 percent chance of survival," Dr. Faison said.
It brought home nearly 152,000 wounded warriors, including those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those with traumatic brain injury and amputees.
Dr. Faison says despite the nation sparing no expense to help them recovery and rehabilitate in military hospitals and VA centers, surviving and thriving are two different things.
22,000 veterans are homeless.
36,500 veterans have substance use issues.
25% have suicidal thoughts and while rates have slightly decreased, it's still not enough.
"Every single day 20 veterans kill themselves, every single day," Dr. Faison said.
The shortage of mental health resources in both the military and civilian sector is critical as well.
"If you have untreated PTSD you have a 200% increased risk of developing a chronic disease because you don't take care of yourself," Dr. Faison said.
He added that in most cases, VA disability benefits aren't paying a living wage and haven't kept up with inflation. Less than one percent of the nation participates in the Armed Forces, but we depend on them for securing our country and the world.
But the health issues facing them is a microcosm of the nation as a whole.
"What is our national plan for some of our most vulnerable people? We spend more on healthcare than any other nation on earth and yet we don't have the best outcomes and there's wide variability depending on whether or not you're insured, depending on your means, depending on your zip code," Dr. Faison added.
To watch Dr. Faison's VITALS presentation, click HERE
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