Hilo center move
affects vets

The post-traumatic center will
relocate to Honolulu in January

CORRECTION Sunday, July 3, 2005 » About 15 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to be suffering from combat stress, Department of Veterans Affairs officials said. A Page A5 article Friday on a Hilo-based mental health rehabilitation center for veterans incorrectly stated that 15 percent of returning veterans live on Oahu. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

HILO » The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will close a Hilo live-in facility for the treatment of the mental effects of exposure to combat and move it to Honolulu in January, the department announced.

The agency cited the high cost of leasing the current 16-bed facility for the PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Program and the need for a more central location to treat a new generation of combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since the mid-1990s the Hilo center has treated 830 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder from Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa, according to a VA statement.

The facility was located in Hilo because there were many Vietnam veterans on the Big Island. Officials also said they thought the small-town atmosphere of Hilo would provide a quiet location to receive therapy for those who were not from the island.

Big Island residents represent the largest group served to date, 28 percent.

But about 15 percent of the troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan live on Oahu and are expected to need short-term treatment, a VA statement said. Both outpatient and residential treatment will be available at the new center, the VA said.

The lease on the Hilo facility, costing $585,000 a year, is due to expire in December with renewal expected to cost more than $700,000. Instead, the VA will seek a site at an existing military facility on Oahu, the agency said.

Another problem with the Hilo facility was attracting staff to serve there, the VA said. Placing the facility with other military services on Oahu will allow it to use staff from other agencies, they said.

None of this sat well with veterans and center employees when it was announced this week in Hilo.

Keith Ribbentrop, a veterans advocate who works for the state, said he met with 45 veterans Wednesday, and none of them were given notice of the meeting in which the changes were announced. "We need to have another town meeting," said veteran Floyd Eaglin.

Although the Hilo staff will be offered jobs on Oahu, none are happy about making the move, Ribbentrop and Eaglin said.

A spokesman for the VA could not be reached for additional comment.

One of the few voices supporting the change was retired Judge Paul de Silva, a Vietnam-era veteran, who said he could not find fault with the rationale for moving the facility. But he added, "I feel very sad when things are moved to Honolulu from Hilo."