they said because of the downturn in the economy and other factors that the nonva, nonmilitary demand had gone up in their experience 10%, 20% in the last couple years. when i looked at mental health access in montana, it was an interesting review for me, the va had linked up with the community mental health centers. i may be out of date since we did it a couple years ago, there was an organization of community mental health centers, allowing them to go to the mental health centers, usually staffed by psychologists and not psychiatrists. they were able to improve the access time to get folks to talk to people in their neighborhood in their city to get some care. i think in order to make that care cohesive as mr. tolentino said, you have to be able to get medical records back and forth, so there's a coordination of care, and so i think the all hands on deck idea is one that i wholly endorse, and one where if i look at some of the cases we've looked at in the past, it was not infrequent for veterans to show up at a community mental health center in their town. and because they were vete

such a breakdown, why is is it that only 2% per year of the total unique population were sent out for nonva care. why is it only 2%, yet the handbook says you should and could do it? >> we do that where we can. often where we have shortages, the community has shortages. >> it seems like there are -- based on what we've heard and the testimony we've been receiving, that there is clearly a shortage. why don't you -- in the interim, before you work and upload these 1900 people, why don't you get these people out the door and get them care and coverage right away. >> sir, first, let me clarify, for those who need urgent care we are emfastic that we ensure that those who are at risk are well treated and are -- it's suicide pretension coordinator for immediate treatment. >> well, jackmaning needed care and coverage, and he didn't get, he killed himself. there are others like that, what's the definition of critical care and immediate care? i mean, to me immediate means, the guy calls, he gets help right then and there. >> anyone who presents with any at-risk factors should be seen and treated righ

discussions with private sector, they said because of the downturn in the economy and other factors that the nonva, nonmilitary demand had also gone up and their experience 10, 20% in the last couple of years. so i think when i look, we were asked several years ago to look at access to mental health care in montana. and it was a very interesting review for me in that montana va had linked up with the community mental health centers in montana and i believe that -- i may be out of date by a couple years since we did it a couple years ago, but there was an organization of community mental health centers and by allowing veterans to go to those mental health centers which were usually staffed by skolss and social quorkers and usually not by physicians, they were able to dramatically inprove the access time to get folks to talk to competent people in their neighborhood in their center to get some care. i think in order to make that care cohesive, as mrs. tolentino said, you've got to be able to get medical records back and forth so that there's a coordination of care and so i think the all hands on dec