By DAVE RANNEY

Last year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Topeka and Leavenworth met with 932 veterans who said they’d been sexually assaulted while they were in the military.

“That number has tripled in last six years,” said Gary Napier, who runs the hospitals’ Military Sexual Trauma Services program. Much of the increase, he said, appears to be driven by a corresponding increase in public awareness as well as the sexual trauma program’s outreach efforts.

Of the 932 who said they were sexually assaulted, 527 were women, 405 were men. Almost two-thirds of the women and 55 percent of the men received services through the program.

“We’re above the national average,” Napier said. “I think the word is out that this is a good program and that we can be trusted. But, still, I have to say it seems like we’re saving people who are drowning in this rapidly flowing river. I just wish there was some way we could build some kind of bridge that would keep people from falling in.”

Napier led a forum on veterans and sexual assault and domestic violence. The forum was part of a daylong mental health summit hosted by the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, which includes the two hospitals, outpatient clinics, residential programs, mental health clinics, and more than a dozen specialized treatment programs.

Other forums at the summit focused on stigma, caregivers’ needs, homelessness, and suicide prevention.

On any given day, the health care system’s suicide prevention program interacts with between 35 to 50 veterans, men and women, who are considered “high risk,” said Marcy Bilymsky, a prevention worker whose duties include calling patients after they are discharged from either of the hospitals.

“The highest risk of suicide for (veterans) is within seven to 30 days of their being discharged,” Bilymsky said. “So as a facility, we call everybody usually within 24 to 48 hours — definitely within a week – to check in with them, to see how they’re doing.”

In recent years, she said, the health system has recorded “two or three suicides” annually.

“So far this year, it’s probably five,” said Bilymsky, who did not have immediate access to the program’s statistics. “The biggest barrier for us is getting veterans to come into the VA,” she said. “We have a whole lot of people who are hesitant because they associate the VA with their military service and because it’s such a big system.

But once we get them past that and they find out that we really do care, they usually come back.” Bilymsky encouraged veterans who are considering harming themselves to call the Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255, ext. 1. “Someone is there 24-7,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas, New Year’s or Thanksgiving, someone — a clinician — is there.” Veterans who’ve experienced sexual trauma, Napier said, are encouraged to call his office: 785-350-3111, ext. 52068. Ken Schortmann, 65, said the VA saved his life.

“I did two tours in Viet Nam in the Marines, and I was in Desert Storm in the Army,” he said. “When I got out, I got two jobs and I just worked, and worked and worked. I didn’t know it, but I was covering up my PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I got to where I wasn’t sleeping, and I was doing a lot of weird things.”

Eventually, a VA worker recognized Schortmann’s symptoms and encouraged him to see one of the mental health counselors at the Topeka hospital.

“I’m a combat veteran. They saved my life,” he said. “There isn’t any doubt about that.” About 60 people – a mix of VA officials, social service providers, and law enforcement officers — attended the summit. “The goal for today was to reach out to our partners in the community because, many times, we’re serving the same population,” said Stephanie Davis, suicide prevention coordinator for the VA’s eastern Kansas health care system.

“Our veterans aren’t just coming to the VA, they’re out in their communities. And that’s what we want, we want them living them own lives in their communities. This is all about improving the lives of veterans and their families.”

 

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.