CLEVELAND — The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is putting a spotlight on mental health after a veteran committed suicide on Monday outside of the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland.
Details of the suicide are not available due to privacy regulations.
In a statement issued to WKYC on Monday afternoon, the VA stated that it "remains dedicated to addressing the needs of Veterans at risk and in distress. All VA facilities, including ours, provide same-day urgent primary and mental health care services to Veterans who need them."
"Suicide prevention is VA’s highest clinical priority," the statement added. "One life lost to suicide is one too many."
Any Veteran, family member or friend concerned about a Veteran’s mental health is urged to contact the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1 or text 838255. Trained professionals are also available to chat at www.veteranscrisisline.net. The lines are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur reacted to the news of the suicide at the VA by calling on her colleagues in Congress to act. “The fact that 20 veterans a day take their own life – over 7,000 a year – is a tragedy. With seven incidents of veteran suicide on VA property in 2019 alone, 25 in the last 18 months, its critical we do more to stop this sustained national crisis. That is why I am working closely with my colleagues in the House and Senate to take decisive action to investigate and bring to an end the epidemic of veteran suicide," Kaptur wrote in a statement.
