Sen. Roy Blunt stopped at Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital on Thursday morning to push for a change in the way mental health problems are treated and to address the current scandal enveloping the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Blunt, R-Mo., met with hospital administrators to discuss treating mental health the same as physical health, wait times at Truman Memorial and how staff there is working to provide veterans with timely access to care. He said he got "good answers" and was pleased employees at Truman are willing to outsource some services in order to ensure veterans don't wait too long for treatment.

"Of course if you have a mental health problem or a physical health problem that needs to be dealt with that day, no waiting list is good enough," Blunt said.

For veterans in particular, he said, the more options, the better.

"I just think we need to look at all the alternatives, don't take anything off the table and some combination of more choices is ultimately the right path for our veterans," Blunt said.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., stopped by Truman Memorial on Wednesday, and Blunt's Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Claire McCaskill, released survey results last Friday that showed high marks for the hospital. The politicians' visits come just weeks after reports about a Phoenix VA hospital made national headlines when it was discovered that employees there were falsifying waitlists to show that veterans were getting treatment much sooner than they actually were. The VA's Office of the Inspector General released a report Wednesday confirming the allegations in Phoenix and adding that the issue is national. However, the inspector general has not substantiated reports that the misconduct caused up to 40 deaths.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned this morning in response to the scandal.

Blunt said just because Truman might have better wait times than other VA hospitals doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

"I don't think we should be satisfied with the performance of any of our veterans' facilities right now," Blunt said. "I think they could all be better and I think they should take this as a moment to try and be better."

Roger Allen, a Marine Corps veteran who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1978 to 1980, said he came to the news conference, which lasted about 10 minutes, to talk to Blunt. The senator shook his hand, briefly answered a question from Allen about and left the premises.

Allen said he wanted to bring back into the spotlight water contamination at Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to '80s that sickened many veterans who didn't see active duty. He said he was disappointed that Blunt didn't speak with him more.

Mental health is the crux of Blunt's statewide tour this week as he visits facilities to discuss ways to improve behavioral health treatment in Missouri. He has also made stops in St. Louis, Joplin, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Hannibal and Kansas City.

About 4,100 of the nearly 36,000 veterans who seek treatment at Truman Memorial use the mental health services, Stephen Gaither, spokesman for the hospital, said. Truman offers numerous behavioral health services, including suicide prevention, post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, addiction treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation.

The hospital also has agreements with several local organizations, including substance abuse services with Phoenix Programs Inc. and the Boone County Veterans Treatment Court, temporary housing with Welcome Home Inc. and permanent housing with the Columbia Housing Authority.

This article was published in the Friday, May 30, 2014 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Blunt pays visit to VA hospital;�Tour focuses on mental health."