By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
HOISINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran stopped in Hoisington on Friday afternoon for a town hall meeting. About 30 people attended the event in the showroom at Ehler Chevrolet. Before taking questions, Moran addressed the crowd for about 15 minutes. He spent much of that time discussing veterans' access to healthcare in rural communities including veteran suicide.
"The challenge of veteran suicide in part is if you live in Barton County or you live where we come from, the services if they exist are someplace else,” Moran said.
Moran said approximately 20 veterans commit suicide every day in the United States. As the previous chairman of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee, Moran co-authored the Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act which was signed into law last year. That measure is designed to increase the number of mental health care workers at VA hospitals. It also allows local health care providers to offer treatment for veterans.
"We’re trying to take programs, particularly for rural communities, that would be only in the VA and get community organizations to help provide our services to veterans here at home,” Moran said.
Moran said that rural communities also benefit if healthcare dollars are spent locally.