In early 2023, a whistleblower at the Atlanta VA revealed that thousands of mental health calls were going unanswered at the hospital’s beleaguered care phone line. In the 18 months since the whistleblower’s complaint was reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta VA says it hired more workers to answer the phones and that effort has paid off.
The health system’s latest data show it has dramatically reduced the number of unanswered mental health calls and improved answer times for veterans in crisis.
“This progress underscores our commitment to providing timely, accessible mental health support for Veterans — and we won’t rest until 100% of calls are answered,” a VA spokesperson said in a statement.
Advocates and veterans in Georgia have decried the strained systems meant to assist thousands of veterans with mental health treatment; they’ve cited a shortage of therapists in the VA who can treat veterans in the state, as well as frequent staff turnover.
The whistleblower complaint focused on breakdowns in what is often supposed to be the first layer of support: mental health calls made directly to the Atlanta VA. The complaint alleged that in a 12-month period, about 7,200 of roughly 22,000 mental health calls made to the Atlanta VA Health Care System went unanswered. VA’s Human Resources Department was slow in hiring applicants who could answer the phones, according to the complaint, and the Atlanta VA had about a third of the staff needed to pick up calls.
About 50% of mental health calls went unanswered in April 2023 alone, according to the Atlanta VA. The AJC also spoke with a veteran last year who said she called the Atlanta VA about 10 times while she was in a mental health crisis. Someone answered only about half the time, she said.
That trend has since been reversed.
From January to October 2024, the Atlanta VA reported that it answered 96.5% of the 24,152 mental health-related calls it received. On average, someone at the VA picked up the phone within 26 seconds. By contrast in April 2023, the average time to answer the call took 14 minutes and 51 seconds.
The systemic improvements are largely thanks to the health care system’s new team of 10 specialized staff dedicated to answering mental health calls, according to the Atlanta VA. Now, officials for the health care system say its call takers are consistently exceeding national standards for response times and answered calls. Standards aim for no more than 5% of calls to go unanswered before the caller hangs up and at least 80% of calls to be answered within 30 seconds, according to the Atlanta VA.
The Atlanta VA says it also implemented a callback process. Now, abandoned calls with an identifiable number are quickly redialed. More broadly, the Atlanta VA said its answer rates for primary care and other calls have significantly improved due to additional call takers.
The VA Office of Inspector General, which is responsible for investigating complaints, hasn’t come out with findings. A spokesperson for the agency said that as a general matter, the VA OIG “does not confirm or deny any ongoing investigations, inspections, or audits.”
But another agency, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, already brokered a $10,000 settlement earlier this year with one Atlanta VA’s public affairs officer. That officer, Greg Kendall, says he was retaliated against for trying to release more information about the problem after the AJC’s story on the whistleblower complaint.
“I think it’s safe to say the Atlanta VA leadership is more concerned with attacking whistleblowers than taking care of mental health patients,” Kendall, the public affairs officer, said in a statement.
Kendall said it’s time for the public to know exactly what went wrong, and why the phone lines were allowed to be clogged up for so long.
“How many other Atlanta Veterans had a similar experience? Who is being held accountable for this significant failure of veterans?” he said in the statement. “That is why the VA Inspector General needs to release the results of its investigation into this matter as soon as possible.”
Veterans who are in immediate crisis should dial 988, the national mental health hotline, then press 1. They can also chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat, or text 838255.
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