According to reports by both the Stars and Stripes and El Paso Times, President Obama will sign an executive order today to expand mental health care services and suicide prevention efforts provided by the VA.
The president will make the announcement in a speech to troops at Fort Bliss Friday afternoon, the second anniversary of his last visit to the post at the end of major combat operations in Iraq.
Obama is instructing the VA to ensure that any veteran with suicidal thoughts is seen by a mental health professional within 24 hours — a standard already set for the VA, but which the department often fails to meet, according to the Stars and Stripes article. The article goes on to state that many of the initiatives announced in the executive order were previously announced earlier this summer by the VA.