The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it has met the goal to hire 1,600 mental health professionals outlined in a presidential order last August.
The Hefner VA Medical Center met its local goal to hire 14 mental health clinicians and two support personnel.
“I am proud of the hard work our staff has completed to bring these new staff members on board,” Medical Director Kaye Green said in a statement.
“We will continue to actively recruit for any vacant mental health positions for the future to ensure that veterans will have access to mental health now and in the future,” Green said.
As of May 31, the VA hired 1,607 mental health clinical providers. Additionally, the VA hired 2,005 mental health clinical providers to fill existing vacancies.
“Meeting this hiring milestone significantly enhances our ability to improve access to care for those Veterans seeking mental health services and demonstrates our continued commitment to the health and well-being of the men and women who have served the Nation,” said Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs.
“Meeting this goal is an important achievement, but we recognize that we must continue to increase access to the quality mental health care veterans have earned and deserve,” Shinkseki said.
The VA provides a full range of comprehensive mental health services across the country. In 2012, more than 1.3 million veterans received specialized mental health care from the VA.
The more than 1.3 million rose each year from 927,052 in fiscal year 2006.