NF/SG-VHS Recognized for 2024 VHA National Community Partnership Challenge
The North Florida / South Georgia Veterans Health Systems’ Suicide Prevention Program was recognized by Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Health, announcing the winners of the 2024 VHA award for outstanding performance in the National Community Partnership Challenge, June 26, 2024.
This year’s theme, Bridging the Gap Through Partnerships, celebrates and highlights how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and community organizations develop non-monetary partnerships to meet Veterans’ needs with creativity and innovation. This theme seeks to recognize community partnerships that are built to meet health care needs by identifying gaps in services or resources across social determinants of health (SDOH). Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people live, learn, work, play, worship and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks in the categories of education, employment, food security, housing, spiritual support, and transportation.
The NF/SG VA Health System Suicide Prevention/CEPC Program Supervisor, Ms. Katherine Sperry, highlighted that Veterans consistently expressed that they have felt the VA cares about their care, even when the Veteran was receiving their care from the local community and not just at a VAMC.
“COMPACT Act paved the way for non-VA community care greatly increasing accessibility for the Veteran,” said Sperry. “The ability to ensure our Veterans are receiving timely access to world-class health care is at the heart of what we strive to do, and we will stop at nothing serve every Veteran as well as they have served us.”
These partnerships are comprised of five external community partners working collaboratively with the NF/SG-VHS Suicide Prevention team to reduce the number of Veterans dying by suicide. Through mutual effort, a referral process was developed that notifies the Suicide Prevention Coordinator when a Veteran presents for either suicidal ideations or a suicide attempt at a community-based partner. Ultimately, the partnership enables the VA Suicide Prevention Coordinator to promptly meet with the Veteran at the community partner’s facility where Veteran is quickly connected to care prior to leaving the facility.
There is nothing more important to VA than preventing Veteran suicide — it’s our top clinical priority. Tragically, our nation’s Veterans are at a higher risk for suicide compared to the general population and through these partnerships, everyone involved plays a critical role in suicide prevention.
For more information on the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, please visit https://www.va.gov/north-florida-health-care/.