Quality mental health care by design
According to a mental health care rating system, Coatesville VA Medical Center has consistently been rated in the top 2 of 139 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers for the last three years.
The Mental Health Domain Quality (MHQ3) score rating system is part of the Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) Value Model. MHQ3 tracks 36 measures in three categories: Veterans' ability to initially access to care, the continuity or timely follow-up care, and Veteran satisfaction surveys.
Consistently delivering high-quality mental health care to Veterans is no accident, and it doesn’t happen by chance; it happens by design.
Mental health staff at Coatesville VA will often attribute the high rating to their investment in the training committee that oversees the selection and mentorship of interns each year. How does a committee overseeing the training of interns have such a big impact on Veteran care? It starts with attracting the right interns.
Attracting and selecting the right interns
“VA is the largest provider of psychology intern training nationally,” explains Dr. Danielle Schade, Chief of Psychology Services at Coatesville VA, “meaning our training committee plays a role in preparing psychologists not only for VA careers but to competently serve the country as a whole.”
Coatesville VA’s reputation as a top-tier VA mental health facility helped attract more than 100 candidates for the six available intern positions this year.
“Selecting the right candidates is absolutely essential to the psychologists on the training committee.”
To remain focused and consistent through applications that can exceed 100 pages each, committee members follow standardized criteria. This guide is designed to help them identify which interns have the training, experience, and interest that have repeatedly proven to identify those who go on to serve Veterans' best interests. This year, the committee filled its six positions in the first round.
“Filling the intern slots in the first round is like a sports team getting all their top picks in the first round of the draft, said Dr. Jessica Reinhard, psychologist and training committee chair explains, “We couldn’t ask for more.”
Onboarding interns who serve full-time for a year comes with additional benefits. Adding interns to the local team expands Veterans’ access to mental health care, and psychologists can spend the extra time with Veterans who need more frequent therapy and counseling.
Developing and retaining engaged professionals
The longer interns choose to remain at Coatesville VA after graduation, the higher the return on investment is for the training committee and the more the Veterans they serve will benefit. New psychologists are mentored into roles on the training committee and are encouraged to share their innovations and ideas to improve the care the team delivers.
Coatesville VA retains a wealth of experienced psychologists who support and treat Veterans through substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal ideation, and more.
“Of the 39 psychologists on staff, 23 completed their internship with VA, and 18 of them did their internship right here at Coatesville VA, explains Schade. “The staff who supervise the interns report that being an intern supervisor is an enriching role for them. It helps us retain our good quality psychologists because they feel more invested.”
Elevating the care Veterans receive
With psychologists experienced with the interdisciplinary collaboration model, small details are less likely to be missed. This industry standard model is designed so that the Veteran’s primary care provider, physical therapist, and psychologist have access to information from the Veteran’s most recent interactions with their treatment team.
This practice has predictable benefits, but retaining interns elevates Veteran care in ways that only practitioners could anticipate. Veterans who received their mental health care through Coatesville VA are more likely to be seen by a psychologist who has experience serving Veterans, creating an environment where Veterans, who might be giving VA health care a try for the first time, trust their therapist and feel comfortable receiving mental health care at Coatesville VA.
Veterans considering their mental health treatment options are welcome to explore our mental health services and can call the Mental Health Outpatient Clinic to discuss options suited to their unique needs.