(April 7, 2006)—U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson outlined a plan Thursday to implement the congressional designation of the Waco VA hospital as a national center for mental health care, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said Friday.

The designation as a National Center of Excellence for Mental Health Care, Edwards said, “is evidence that the VA leadership in Washington has recognized that the Waco VA can play a unique role in improving mental health care services for veterans throughout the nation. That should be good news for veterans everywhere and for the future of the Waco VA hospital.”

The plan, which Nicholson outlined during a hearing before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee On Military Life and Veterans Affairs, on which Edwards is the ranking member, represents the first time VA officials have disclosed what they have in mind for the Waco VA’s role in mental health care and research for veterans.

“This announcement doesn’t guarantee the Waco VA will remain open, but it certainly makes it harder for the VA leadership to shut down the hospital when Congress has designated it as a Center of Excellence for Mental Health Care, and the VA has proposed a plan to have Waco serve a unique role in VA research and mental health services,” Edwards said.

President Bush signed a bill that included the designation of the Waco VA as a center of excellence for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and mental health in November 2005.

Last year Edwards secured $3 million for a Fort Hood-Waco VA research program into the underlying cause of PTSD and possible treatments.

The future of the Waco facility has been uncertain since an independent commission recommended either closing or downsizing the hospital as part of a national restructuring.

In October the Local Advisory Panel formed to make recommendations to Nicholson about the future of the 73-year-old hospital voted support options to maintain or expand services, including the expansion of posttraumatic stress disorder services.