The chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee called for a one-day halt to all nonessential work at VA medical centers to allow staff to focus on suicide prevention policies, according to The Marine Corps Times.
The call comes after an Aug. 22 inspector general report found numerous safety issues related to staffing, employee training and risk mitigation at West Palm Beach (Fla.) VA Medical Center, where a patient died by suicide in early 2019.
"We appreciate the Office of Inspector General's oversight, which focuses on an event that occurred in March 2019," the VA told Becker's following the report's release. "We continue to reinforce education to all staff and maintain suicide prevention as a priority."
Nearly 30 veterans have died from suicide at VA medical centers since 2017.
"Suicide prevention is VA's highest clinical priority, and the department is taking significant steps to address the issue," the VA told Becker's in an emailed statement. The department cited a Joint Commission report, which found the VA reduced the number of hospital suicides by 82.4 percent after implementing a mental healthcare checklist, from 4.2 per 100,000 admissions to 0.74 per 100,000 admissions in mental health units. The VA also said no organization can stop suicide alone and cited the March 2019 President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide executive order, which aims to help the VA's suicide prevention efforts.
Editor's note: This story was updated Aug. 27 at 11:37 a.m. with additional information.