Center for

Health Sciences

Rural Veterans Health Access Program (RVHAP) from HRSA

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$841,224 Cycle 1; $890,550 Cycle 2

 

• Program Director: Dallas DeAnne McCance, MPS dallas.mccance@okstate.edu (918) 561-1570
• Project Manager: Christi Sherrill, MPH christi.sherrill@okstate.edu (918) 561-1568
• Project Evaluator: Chetana Musapeta, MPH Chetana.musapeta@okstate.edu
• Web: https://www.facebook.com/RVHAP

 

Dates of Funding: 

August 1, 2022 – July 31, 2025

 

Goal:

To increase access to mental health and substance use disorder services for military veterans residing in rural areas.

• Oklahoma has the highest percentage population of veterans in the nation, with 1 in 10 individuals having served.
• 40% of Oklahoma’s veterans reside in rural counties with inadequate services.
• Oklahoma has the highest rate of suicide among veterans ages 18 to 34.

Key successes to date:

• The Oklahoma RVHAP is the ONLY project in the US funded for a second round of funding and is one of only three in the country.
• Established the ONLY Project ECHO line solely devoted to veteran care in the US (this is one of OSU’s most highly attended ECHO lines). Veteran Care ECHO | Oklahoma State University (medicine.okstate.edu)
• Established critical collaborations with the Oklahoma Governor’s Challenge to End Suicide among Veterans, the Tulsa Mayor’s Challenge, the Oklahoma Veteran Alliance and Eagle Ops, and with Veteran Rally Point to establish chapters in rural Oklahoma.
• National presentation of “Military Personnel Facing the Opiate Crisis” in Columbus Ohio in 2022 (was the highest attended session, with 300 of the 1000 conference attendees participating).
• Implemented presentations to OSU-CHS psychiatry students in veteran care; psychiatry and internal medicine residents are now participating in the Project ECHO case presentations.
• Hosted the “Wellness for Women Veterans” conference in Tulsa in March of 2023; more than 300 in attendance; will now be an annual event, in partnership with the Cohen Veteran Network.

Media:

• Female veterans' health care to be focus of inaugural Tulsa conference Friday
• OSU plans Wellness for Women Veterans conference