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NEWS BRIEFS
Huntington VA gets funds for mental health complex
HUNTINGTON — The Veterans Administration Medical Center in Huntington will receive $4,996,900 in federal funds for construction of a mental health complex. The money comes from the Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105) of fiscal year 2009, through the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) announced Tuesday.
“We can no longer tolerate our young men and women silently suffering from substance abuse, depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” Rahall said in a press release. “These are real illnesses and just as detrimental to their overall well being as physical injuries.”
The VA plans to renovate a vacant 15,000-square-foot building and relocate all out-patient mental health services to the renovated building adjacent to the current center. The ultimate goal is to create a comprehensive mental health care facility on the Huntington VA campus, which will include special facilities for PTSD treatment and substance abuse rehabilitation, the release said.
“This project represents the largest of several construction projects that will create the mental health complex on the VA grounds,” Edward H. Seiler, director of the Huntington VA Medical Center, said in the release. “Once the facility is finished, there will be a total of four buildings that will have been renovated and built out to accommodate the additional patient care and treatment services.”
