{"id":68454,"date":"2021-09-24T19:15:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T19:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:57:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:57:56","slug":"a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the wake of a veteran\u2019s death by suicide, a tragedy preceded by missed appointments due to the veteran\u2019s service dog being denied entry to the VA hospital, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General issued recommendations to two VA facilities to improve care for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/oig\/pubs\/VAOIG-21-00271-258.pdf\">mental health patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of those recommendations was to nix prohibitive service dog policies. Previously, the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System required service dogs to complete a health screening, be trained in three assistance tasks, and wear identification. But VHA\u2019s policy does not permit facility staff to require health screenings or identification, according to the VAOIG\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report, published Sept. 23, details a case of an unidentified veteran\u2019s death by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2021\/09\/08\/veteran-suicides-decreased-7-percent-in-2019-to-lowest-level-in-12-years\/\">suicide<\/a> after receiving services through VA facilities in Portland, Oregon and Palo Alto, California. Though the report notes that staff made a reasonable effort to provide most aspects of mental health care to the patient, who was showing signs of suicidal ideation, it states that the facilities in question failed to meet some of the policies required by the Veterans Health Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The policies that staff fell short on included providing various suicide-prevention care and mental health treatment options, and not allowing the patient\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2020\/01\/02\/is-adopting-a-service-dog-right-for-you-what-veterans-diagnosed-with-ptsd-need-to-know\/\">service dog<\/a> to enter the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The patient was assessed as being at high risk for suicide, and objected to attending certain appointments without the service dog. The Palo Alto VA facility imposed service dog requirements that were stricter than VHA\u2019s official service dog policy, VAOIG found. The VAOIG report states that \u201cfailure to comply with VHA animal access policy may contribute to barriers in accessing VHA services for patients with service animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The patient had told the facility that the 11-year-old service dog was their only support system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the investigation, VAOIG issued seven recommendations to improve training, coordination, policy, and procedures related to mental health care at both facilities. Officials at both facilities concurred on all applicable recommendations, which included developing procedures consistent with the VHA\u2019s behavioral report procedures, improving and expediting communication of key information with both patients and leadership, and monitoring staff for compliance to VHA policies, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A final recommendation pushed the Palo Alto facility to update its service dog policy to match the VHA\u2019s, which the facility concurred with and provided a completion date of May 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their family members can also text 838255 or visit&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/veteranscrisisline.net\/\"><i>VeteransCrisisLine.net<\/i><\/a><i>&nbsp;for assistance.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn&#8217;t provide adequate mental health care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":103349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,19],"tags":[8470,8456],"coauthors":[3345],"class_list":["post-68454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","tag-va","tag-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QR4B7RXUXFF7FHK6CLTQZXOHQU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn&#039;t provide adequate mental health care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn&#039;t provide adequate mental health care.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leila Barghouty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leila Barghouty\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 452,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"keywords\": [\n\t                \"va\",\n\t                \"veterans\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Veterans\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn't provide adequate mental health care.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/24\\\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Veterans\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/veterans\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"veterans\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy - Navy Times","description":"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn't provide adequate mental health care.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy","og_description":"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn't provide adequate mental health care.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00","author":"Leila Barghouty","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leila Barghouty","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy","datePublished":"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/"},"wordCount":452,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg","keywords":["va","veterans"],"articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","News","Newsletters","Veterans"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/","name":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-24T19:15:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-18T20:57:56+00:00","description":"An investigation looked into two VA facilities that didn't provide adequate mental health care.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/24\/a-va-hospital-barred-a-veterans-service-dog-after-the-vets-suicide-it-changed-its-policy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veterans","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/","ad_zone":"veterans"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A VA hospital barred a veteran\u2019s service dog. After the vet\u2019s suicide, it changed its policy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-147125376.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68468,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68454\/revisions\/68468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68454"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=68454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}