Veterans Affairs announces first search site in Montana • Daily Montanan

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Research and Development gave the VA Montana Health System approval this week for a research site in Montana, according to a news release issued Friday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs .

Montana has one of the largest veteran populations per capita, 8.9%, making it the fifth state with the fifth highest number of veterans per 100,000 residents, according to U.S. News data and World Report of November 2023.

A timeline for opening the site, location and estimated costs were not yet available, according to Liz Timmons, press secretary for the committee.

However, research sites are typically based at VA clinics or universities.

“The VA research site will likely be established out of one of the VA clinics in Montana, but we do not yet know which VA clinic it will be and how many researchers will be involved,” Timmons said in an email. email.

The VA operates Fort Harrison Medical Center in Helena and other clinics in Montana.

The press release said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, led the effort to establish the research site, emphasizing the importance of mental health research given high suicide rates in rural states. Montana was one of three states without a research site, according to the committee.

“Veterans in Montana and rural America face unique barriers to accessing the health care they have earned, and expanding research on this group and its challenges will improve VA’s delivery of care and their health outcomes,” said Tester, president of the Veterans Affairs Senate. Foreign Affairs Committee, in a committee statement.

Research conducted by the VA has helped advance other important medical developments, according to the press release.

“In the past, VA research played a critical role in developing effective treatments for tuberculosis, inventing the CT scan and pacemaker, and performing the first-ever liver transplant,” the Veterans Affairs Committee said . “It also continues to be critical to supporting veterans exposed to toxic substances under the PACT Act, improving women veterans’ health and mental health care.”

A VA Montana spokesperson was out of the office Friday and unavailable for comment.

Timmons said additional details such as research focuses and team size would become available in the coming weeks and months.