The Department of Veterans Affairs is committed to providing veterans with a recovery-oriented approach to mental healthcare. To honor this commitment, the VA offers treatment in a variety of settings, including Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (RRTP).
The medical center will soon break ground on a new domiciliary RRTP, which will provide residential mental health treatment to veterans. The program will complement existing resources and improve the challenges associated with providing long-term residential treatment for veterans.
This new program will be designed to specifically cater to the needs of veterans.
“Over the years, the West Palm Beach VA has worked closely with community providers in Palm Beach and surrounding counties to provide residential treatment for our nation’s veterans who suffer from substance abuse and mental health issues. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of available long-term residential facilities available to provide care for a growing number of patients with these health issues,” said Dr. Nicole Rothman, West Palm Beach VA substance abuse outpatient program manager. “The development of our new domiciliary RRTP will provide in-house residential treatment that we will be able to coordinate within the VA while ensuring our veterans receive the highest standard of care possible.”
The medical center is slated to break ground on the new 60-bed, 30,000-square-foot building this summer. It will be constructed on the northeast area of the medical center grounds.
“Addressing the need for additional mental health services for our veterans in Palm Beach and the surrounding counties is of the highest priority for our medical center,” said Donna Katen-Bahensky, medical center director. “This new treatment center will have a tremendous impact on our veterans in South Florida. It will allow the VA to provide greater access to care in a healing environment, which will help veterans to overcome issues that are impacting their lives such as homelessness and addiction, and transition them back into being contributing members of our community.”
