Charlotte will soon have a residential treatment program for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of trauma.
The new veterans facility will be located at HopeWay, a mental health residential and day treatment center for adults in southwest Charlotte. It will have six bedrooms where people can stay for several months.
The treatment program is based on a similar program in Atlanta and will be “very intense,” according to HopeWay CEO and Chief Medical Officer Alyson Kuroski-Mazzei.
“It will include group therapy, individual therapy, sessions with a psychiatrist to look at medication management options, if necessary, as well as integrative therapies like yoga, horticultural therapy, pet therapy,” Kuroski-Mazzei said.
It is unclear how much veterans would pay for treatment, though the facility said it is working to let those who qualify use Veterans Affairs benefits for the program.
Going through a trauma may increase a person's suicide risk. Veterans accounted for 13.5% of all suicides nationwide in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Two-hundred-twelve veterans in North Carolina killed themselves the same year.
The new Charlotte facility is expected to open in the winter of next year.
