~ TriWest Healthcare Alliance partnership is result of Governor’s Yellow Ribbon Task Force ~

St. Paul – To further support the 2,600 men and women who have recently returned from a 22 month Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment, Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that mental health professionals will be stationed in Minnesota Army National Guard armories around the state.

As a result of the Governor’s Yellow Ribbon Task Force, the Minnesota National Guard was selected to be a part of a TriWest Healthcare Alliance pilot program that will provide on-site mental health consultation, education and referral at no cost to soldiers.

“Our support for these brave men and women needs to continue so they get the services they need even after they’re home,” Governor Pawlenty said. “This nation leading program has the potential to save a life, a marriage, or a family by making sure mental health professionals are readily available to discuss readjustment issues with service members and families at their local armories.”

The TriWest Embedded Behavioral Health Provider Program will focus on soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division that recently returned from Iraq in July. Those units are located in the metro area, and in the northwest and southwest regions of Minnesota. Under the pilot program, licensed professionals will be located in 22 Minnesota armories:

The program will provide an opportunity for commanders to form a relationship with a professional with whom they can consult about mental health issues. The provider will also participate in monthly unit level training and function as part of the unit team.

In addition to on-site consultation, the embedded mental health professionals will also ensure that referrals are made when necessary or requested to qualified local providers who specialize in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, insomnia, grief, or marital issues.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance is a privately held, Phoenix-based corporation that contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to administer TRICARE in the 21-state TRICARE West Region.

TRICARE is the DoD health care entitlement for active duty, Guard and Reserve and retired members of the military, and their eligible family members and survivors. TRICARE receives its funding as part of the annual federal defense budget.

Earlier this year, Governor Pawlenty announced that the TRICARE health care network expanded to include 4,200 more doctors and hospitals in Minnesota, increasing the number of physicians in the network by nearly ten times. The network expansion efforts increased the number of physicians available to treat TRICARE beneficiaries in Minnesota increased from 485 to 4,702 and the number of hospitals in the TRICARE network increased from four to 27.

In August, Governor Pawlenty introduced LinkVet – the Veterans Linkage Line for Minnesota veterans and their family members. The toll-free customer service line is the first of its kind in the nation and provides information referrals, immediate crisis intervention and psychological counseling 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-LINKVET (546-5838).

LinkVet is answered by trained staff at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) and Crisis Connection, a Twin Cities based non-profit mental health telephone counseling service. MDVA staff, who are veterans themselves, manage the lines Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Crisis Connection social workers field all crisis calls during business hours, and all calls after hours, on weekends and holidays.