DGMC opens new mental health unit

  • Published
  • By Jim Spellman
  • 60th Medical Group Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  David Grant USAF Medical Center held a ribbon cutting ceremony June 16 marking the grand opening of its new joint Department of Defense/Veteran's Affairs Joint Inpatient Mental Health Unit. 

Located on the fourth floor of DGMC, the new $6.7 million joint psychiatric inpatient unit utilizes integrated treatment approaches to increase a patient's ability to successfully cope during a crisis, thus facilitating recovery and building resilience. 

"Those of you who are involved in this know that there are many more opportunities for joint partnerships between the VA and DGMC," said Dr. Brian O'Neill, director of Veteran's Affairs Northern California Health Care System. "It is a full partnership -- we have a full seat at the table," explained Dr. O'Neill. "All of the services that are provided for DoD beneficiaries here are also available to VA beneficiaries under the most innovative, the most open arrangement in the country where we provide services for all of our combined beneficiaries." 

"As a veteran myself and employee of the VA, I'm very excited about what we are ready to open today," said Dr. Christine Leyba, assistant director of mental health services at VANCHCS. 

Instead of succumbing to the pressure of downsizing, the leadership of the 60th Medical Group and the Veteran's Affairs Northern California Health Care System recognized the need for a partnership in order to increase psychiatric treatment for active duty personnel, veterans and their families. In April of 2008, the Research and Development corporation noted nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan -- 300,000 in all -- report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment. 

"Because of our unique design, we will be at the forefront of bridging the care from active duty to veteran status," explained Maj. (Dr.) Vu Le, 60th Medical Operations Squadron medical director of the JIMHU. "Similar to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent unveiling of the networkofcare.com Web site here in California, we hope to be a one-stop shop for patients moving from active duty to becoming an honorable veteran." 

The design and construction of the new facility began in September 2008. "The journey has been long and sometimes arduous, but we've had really incredible results. This has actually been the truest cooperation between the VA and the Air Force that I've seen, and at all levels," Dr. Leyba exclaimed. "Leadership on both sides has been proactive and supportive as we've worked to bring this mental health unit to fruition. The Air Force team has been incredible to work with." 

In addition to treatment of patients, the unit is designed to be an educational platform. Prior to its opening, DGMC trained five general clinical nurses to become psychiatric nurses, paving the way for the unit to become a psychiatric nurse certification center. The social worker residency class of 2010 will be the first to have an intensive psychiatric rotation in the new ward. 

There is active discussion for the JIMHU to become a rotation site for medical students, family medicine residence and psychiatric residents. Soon, the JIMHU will have a state-of-the-art virtual reality machine designed to treat patients who are suffering from PTSD, thereby making DGMC the first DoD inpatient unit to use such an innovative treatment modality. 

"Because of our partnership with the VA, we are on the cusp of becoming a premier center of excellence for psychiatric medicine at a time when we need it most," said Dr. Le.