Do most VA patients have chronic psychiatric problems?
Only a few VA facilities specialize in the treatment of chronic psychiatric patients. The VA SLC HCS is an acute care facility with patients admitted for medical, surgical, neurological and mental health care. Other than having served in the military, the patient population at this Medical Center is typical of the population at other hospitals in the public sector. The majority of our veterans are seen as outpatients in primary care, specialty, and mental health clinics, and relatively few are considered chronically mentally ill. Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization rarely exceeds three weeks, and patients requiring longer-term care are transferred to another facility.
