Veterans left without mental health care amid COVID-19 pandemic

Veterans left without mental health care amid COVID-19 pandemic

Care services.

News 18's micah upshaw, tells us about their call to action.

C: i was panicked, i was completely lost.

M: cory houston has been a veteran for more than 20 years.

As the stay-at-home order forced many workers to move remotely -- it abruptly left houston without services he heavily relied on.

C: i couldn't get a hold of my med provider, i couldn't get a hold of my psychologist.

M: houston struggles with ptsd.

His counselor joins a number of health care workers sent home without equipment necessary to do their job.

He's asking state and local leaders to step up to help veteran affairs.

C: give the va the tools they need, like the laptop so that they can work from home.

M: because of houston's circumstances he has been connected with his counselor.

Lafayette veteran ben mann, who also suffers from ptsd, hasn't been so lucky.

B: i've called, nothing is available, there's no doctors available.

I asked for the telephone, they couldn't set it up.

So it's been really -- it's been challenging.

M: the national statistic for veteran suicides is around 20 people per day.

It's unclear if those numbers are growing amid this forced isolation.

B: i understand obviously, you know we have to be safe we're not trying to spread the virus but at the same time, it's a struggle and as a veteran it's kind of hard because, you know, we earned our medical..

You know what i'm saying.

M: veteran case manager christina howard is calling this need a crisis.

Ch: we're asking that the state step up in whatever form or capacity that they can to assist and make sure that we have a smooth transition, we're getting our veterans back into the mental health care.

M: in lafayette, micah upshaw.

News 18.