VA Puget Sound “We never give up on anybody”

Updated PTSD program means better care for vets
For Johnnie Larmore, a veteran of three combat tours in Vietnam, living with post-traumatic stress means bursts of anger followed by wells of depression.
ADAM ASHTON
STAFF WRITER
The News Tribune
Published: July 15, 2012

For Johnnie Larmore, a veteran of three combat tours in Vietnam, living with post-traumatic stress means bursts of anger followed by wells of depression.

Last week, the Port Angeles man left a recently expanded treatment program at VA Puget Sound American Lake Division in Lakewood. He calls it “the best staff and the best facility” he’s seen in his 41 years seeking help coping with Army combat-related PTSD.

Larmore, 62, spent five weeks in the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Program, which now has 64 beds for veterans who need close care but not enough that they’re committed to a round-the-clock in-patient hospital.

It’s a well-established program at American Lake, but it has a new polish with a recently completed $7.3 million renovation.

It also added four beds for veterans diagnosed with PTSD, bringing the total to 20. Twenty-four beds are reserved for veterans with substance-abuse problems; 20 others are for homeless veterans who want to rejoin the workforce.

There’s a several-week waiting list for all the beds.
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