Healthcare Inspection – Quality of Mental Health Care Concerns, VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, California

OIG conducted an inspection in response to complaints about the quality of care for patients with mental health conditions at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System (system), Long Beach, CA. We did not substantiate that female patients with military sexual trauma were denied mental health counseling and did not receive individual counseling because of the lack of trained therapists. We did not substantiate that the system denied medical care to female patients with 100 percent military sexual trauma-related mental health conditions, that these patients waited months for medical treatments, or that the Non-VA Care Coordination referral process was inefficient. We did not substantiate that a male patient committed suicide in 2014 because he was denied mental health treatment. However, we identified quality of care concerns related to chronic pain management for one patient. The primary care provider did not refer the patient to specialists for second level review. We recommended that the System Director ensure that primary care providers follow established guidelines for referral of patients with chronic pain as required by VA policy. We made one recommendation.