PS 1997; 48:1582-1583
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
A 30-year progress report on a VA satellite psychiatric clinic program
EA Workman, D Short, R Turner and W Douglas
Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Psychiatry Service, VA 24153, USA.
This paper describes a program of rural satellite psychiatric clinics that
has evolved within a Veterans Affairs medical center over the past three
decades. The eight clinics are staffed by a single team that includes a
psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, and two mental health technicians. The
team travels to the eight sites at least once each month. The program has
achieved its goal of providing outpatient screening, diagnosis, and
treatment services to veterans who would otherwise have no access to
specialty psychiatric care due to distance and transportation problems.
