“…While wait times for initiating mental health care are shorter in VA than community settings, waits for those establishing care can exceed 1 month and are variable across medical centers (Feyman et al, 2022). Furthermore, there are often multistep processes that one must go through to be eligible for TFT (Ranney et al, 2022). Thus, it is possible that concerns about losing one’s spot within the mental health system soon after navigating the process to access TFT may drive some patients to keep up with regular mental health appointments “just in case.” Education about pathways and timelines for reestablishing care may be effective in easing some of these concerns, given VA policies that facilitate easy reentry to care for prior patients (e.g., retaining a mental health treatment coordinator for 2 years after a mental health visit).…”