Geisinger receives $375K grant to help rural veterans

Priority: Improving care coordination for returning rural vets, their families

DANVILLE, Pa. – A team of clinicians from Geisinger’s department of psychiatry in collaboration with researchers from the Geisinger Center for Health Research recently received an award of $375,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to address war-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affecting returning rural veterans and their families.

Clearly the nation’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have hit home in Pennsylvania, which ranks third in the country for the largest number of personnel serving in the military as well as the highest number of deployed National Guard troops. More than 21,000 Pennsylvania service members have been deployed since Sept. 11, 2001.

Last spring, Geisinger gathered some of the country’s leading military and civilian PTSD experts to discuss ways to improve the coordination of care for rural veterans and their families.

“The conference was a great first step in engaging the public, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), community healthcare providers and government policy makers to consider how to address the problems of PTSD in rural areas,” noted Sharon Larson, Ph.D., co-director of Geisinger’s Rural Health Policy Institute.

According to Larson, grant funds will be used to build on that effort by developing a model to improve the way Geisinger practitioners identify and care for PTSD in returning veterans and their families.

“It’s our goal that the program meets the needs of veterans in the communities Geisinger serves while also being scalable in Pennsylvania and nationally,” she added.

Geisinger continues to work closely with its neighboring VA hospitals and clinics to recognize and refer veterans affected by psychological war injuries for appropriate care. But, according to Larson, often problems surface when citizen soldiers are “safely” back home – yet help may not be readily available (or convenient).

“We hope to build an effective infrastructure that coordinates clinical, education and community resources to best meet the needs of our returning veterans and their families,” noted, Stephen Paolucci, M.D., Geisinger’s chair of the Department of Psychiatric Services Chair.

“We have $375,000 to develop and pilot a model program, but I am hopeful that we will be able to secure additional funds to extend the program beyond Geisinger,” said Mark Reisinger, vice president, government relations.

About Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System is one of the nations largest integrated health services organizations.  Serving more than 2.6 million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is a nationally recognized leader in the use of electronic health records, patient access and engagement in their healthcare, and in medical education for the next generation.  Geisinger is comprised of three medical center campuses, a 740-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company and research that extends across our large system- all dedicated to creating new models for scientific discovery, quality patient care, and successful clinical outcomes. Geisinger's Weis Center, Center for Health Research and Center for Clinical Studies include basic science, population-based and clinical trials research, complemented by collaborative relationships with top academic centers. Geisinger Ventures, the system's for profit entrepreneurial arm, seeks and promotes opportunities to speed the delivery of medical innovation to benefit patients. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org.