Martinsburg vamc hosts community mental health professionals in sud summit | va martinsburg health care | veterans affairs


Play all audios:

Over 120 mental health professionals from around the Martinsburg community gathered at Martinsburg VA Medical Center to talk about substance use among the Veteran population and how the VA


is supporting Veteran recovery. The Martinsburg VAMC Mental Health Substance Use Disorder Summit on Friday, April 19 included keynote speaker Dr. Joseph Liberto, the Director of the National


Mental Health Substance Use Disorders Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.  Liberto discussed the current status and the future direction of Substance Use Disorder care for


Veterans at the VA.  Dr. Mark Mann, Chief of Mental Health Service at the Martinsburg VAMC said the purpose of the event was to shift the mindset of how we treat Substance Use Disorder. 


“Substance Use Disorders are like any other chronic illness.  It’s no different than diabetes or hypertension; all three are chronic relapsing illnesses,” said Mann.  “We want the community


to know…..Veterans and their families to know….that this is treatable.”   Six presenters discussed topics such as best practices and access to care and the event concluded with a panel


discussion.