The facility will be hiring 33 clinicians and seven support personnel over the next six months. The recruitments are part of the Veterans Affairs Department's initiative to reach more veterans in need of their aid.
The new employees will join a team that is already actively treating Veterans through individualized care, readjustment counseling, and immediate crisis services. Additional staff members also afford opportunities to look long-term and expand into cutting edge Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) research and to explore alternative therapies.
"As the tide of war recedes, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to anticipate the needs of returning Veterans," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said in a prepared statement.
The VA has an existing workforce of 20,696 mental health staff that includes nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers and is looking to expand that number by nearly 2,000.
Currently, almost 500 mental health clinicians and support staff work in southeast Texas to support more than 132,000 Veterans.
Open positions will be announced online at USA Jobs.
To locate the nearest VA facility or Vet Center for enrollment and to get scheduled for care, Veterans can visit VA's website at www.va.gov. Immediate help is available at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net or by calling the Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (push 1) or texting 838255.
