The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is improving veterans' access to mental health services, hiring 1,600 mental health providers and 300 peer-to-peer veteran specialists, enhancing its crisis hotline capacity by 50 percent and setting up 24 pilot projects in nine states. President Barack Obama announced the additional resources this week at the National Conference of Mental Health. The VA is directing 151 of its healthcare centers across the country to conduct mental health summits with community partners, including local government officials, community-based organizations and veteran service organizations. Article