Interagency service sees increase in veterans

Since the signing of an interagency agreement between the Northern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service in April, the Fort Defiance IHS is seeing a gradual increase in veterans seeking post-traumatic stress disorder counseling.

That's according to George Lawson, a licensed social worker, who is a member of the PTSD outreach team.

On April 17, Franklin Freeland, Fort Defiance IHS chief executive officer; Michael Belgarde, Navajo Area IHS CEO; Ron Tso, Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility CEO; John Hubbard, Navajo Area IHS director, and Susan Angell, Northern Arizona system director signed the interagency agreement to provide outreach services to veterans on the Navajo Reservation.

Lawson, with Fort Defiance IHS, said on Wednesday that the PTSD counseling is primarily for the younger men and women returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

But he said he's seeing veterans from the Korean War, Vietnam War and a few from World War II.

Lawson, who has worked with the federal Veterans Administration for 20 years, said that there aren't enough veterans from one war era to begin group sessions, which is why he only provides one-on-one counseling.

He explained that he didn't want to mix the war eras because of generational issues and the different "theater of operation or war zones."

Lawson said Vietnam was fought in the jungle and was an undeclared war, as opposed to Iraq and Afghanistan, which are being fought in the desert.

"Korea, of course, began a different era," he explained. "Some called it the forgotten war and lot of Korean War veterans are sensitive to the war being called forgotten."

Lawson said the Korean War happened between World War II and Vietnam and Americans remember those two wars but they seem to have forgotten the Korean War.

"But it was a war," he noted. "That's for sure."

Lawson said that as part of his individual PTSD counseling with veterans he's referring some veterans to in-service PTSD treatment in Tucson, Denver or Topeka, Kan.

"That's if a veteran requests that," he added.

And his referrals are based on an individual PTSD assessment.

Lawson said that most veterans prefer to the PTSD treatment in Tucson because it's three weeks instead of seven weeks, which is what Topeka provides.

Veterans don't have seven weeks to be away from their jobs or family, he said.

Lawson said he is available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Fort Defiance IHS.

He said that Ruthie Hunter, who is headquartered at the Chinle Vets Center, is available to meet with veterans at the Chinle IHS, Pinon Health Clinic and Hopi Guidance Center.

Lawson said that they are currently not available after 5 p.m. or on weekends but that if a veteran is having a PTSD emergency that he or she should call 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255.

Information: Lawson, 928-729-8048; Hunter, 1-800-949-1005, ext. 7806.

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