VA deployed a Mobile Vet Center and clinical staff today to provide counseling services to Veterans, Servicemembers, families and fellow VA staff members in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

The mobile center is currently located at the El Paso Community College (9050 Viscount St, Building A., El Paso) serving those in need of counseling services through 4:30 p.m. local time today.

With the exception of Sunday, the Mobile Vet Center will operate 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., each day through Tuesday at the El Paso VA Health Care System located at 5001 North Piedras Street in El Paso.

The Mobile Vet Center provides:

  • Grief and healing services
  • Individual, group, and family readjustment counseling to Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment and help with other related problems that affect functioning within the family, work, school or other areas of everyday life; and
  • Counseling for Veterans and Servicemembers of both genders, regardless of combat service, who have experienced a military sexual trauma.

Veteran speaks with a counselorIn addition, local VA leadership and Vet Center staff will also attend a Veterans Town Hall meeting at the local American Legion post today from 6-8 p.m. and provide VA services at that time as well.

Mobile Vet Centers closely resembling the RVs we see touring the country during the summer months. They provide Vets with vital, on-the-spot treatment and resources. Veterans can receive counseling for post-traumatic stress and military sexual trauma, marriage and family counseling, and information on VA benefits information. The main benefit of Mobile Vet Centers is the ability to bring services directly to the Veteran when and where they need it.

A Mobile Vet Center near the site of the Boston Marathon bombing. VA staff began seeing affected Veterans onsite following the attack.

A Mobile Vet Center near the site of the Boston Marathon bombing. VA staff began seeing affected Veterans onsite following the attack.

The original idea behind Mobile Vet Centers is to reach the more than 7.8 million rural Veterans across the country, which VA does on a regular basis. An added benefit of the Mobile Vet Centers is to be able to get resources and personnel to crisis areas quickly and effectively. In recent years, VA has deployed mobile Vet Centers during crises such as the Boston Marathon bombing and numerous natural disasters such as the tornadoes in the Midwest and Hurricanes in the South.

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One Comment

  1. Danny January 21, 2015 at 15:41

    while I’m sure many veterans and families end up using this type of facility, I for one am a critic.my local VA has a mobile unit that they send out to isolated areas, only to treat one or two veterans. I feel that while they can be useful, there are more efficient and cost effective ways to get proper resources to those veterans in need. Please don’t hate me its just my opinion.

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