The man in charge of the VA says preventing suicide is the agency’s top priority.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told the American Legion’s national conference in Indianapolis 20 veterans a day kill themselves, about double the rate of the rest of the population.
He says the VA has begun mental health screenings for everyone who comes to a VA hospital, regardless of what brought them there.
But Wilkie warns the VA can’t do it alone because 70% of those suicides never come to the VA in the first place.
He says the Legion and state and local groups need to play a more active role.