An intensive inpatient treatment program for veterans and active duty military in need of mental health care that opened a few months ago in Anchorage was dedicated Tuesday to the late Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL who inspired the movie "American Sniper."
The 36-bed Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital is part of North Star Behavioral Health System, an Anchorage subsidiary of the large publicly traded firm Universal Health Services, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The health care management company's subsidiaries operate more than 220 acute care and behavioral health facilities and surgery centers in the U.S. and overseas, said Alan Miller, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Health Services.
Out of all the company's programs, Miller said the one in Anchorage is the first it has dedicated to a person. Miller, who served in the U.S. Army, said at the dedication ceremony that his company was "very impressed by the American hero, American patriot Chris Kyle" who served four tours in Iraq. Miller said he did not like some of the comments he heard about Kyle.
"I, personally, was infuriated that he, who put his life on the line protecting all of us, was called a murderer," Miller said. "I wanted his name and accomplishments not only to be remembered by those of us for a short time, but for many others for years to come."
According to 2014 statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 73,400 veterans lived in Alaska. Verdie Bowen, director of Alaska's Office of Veterans Affairs, said roughly 27,000 military personnel, including National Guard members, live in the state.
Despite the numbers of veterans and active duty military, many who need inpatient care for post-traumatic stress or substance-related disorders are sent Outside, Bowen said.
Andrew Mayo, the chief executive officer of North Star Behavioral Health, said he hopes the Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital will fill the need for those services in Alaska, allowing people to receive care in their home state and allowing their families to be part of the process.
Taya Kyle, the widow of Chris Kyle, flew into Alaska from Texas for Tuesday's ceremony, which began with lunch served to the seated guests and ended after she used oversized gold scissors to cut the red, white and blue ribbon stretched across the front of the hospital.
But before she cut the ribbon, Kyle spoke at the dedication ceremony. She recounted memories of her husband. She talked about how they met in a bar, his book signing and a snippet of his childhood. She repeatedly used the word "humble" to describe him.
In an interview before the dedication ceremony, Kyle said an employee of Universal Health Services had called one of her friends a few months ago to broach the idea of naming the Anchorage program after her late husband. Kyle said that the two of them researched the company and determined it was a good fit.
She listed the reasons why: The company wanted to give veterans and active duty military an opportunity to receive care in their hometown and the program took a holistic approach -- focusing on diet, exercise and getting family involved, she said.
Also, she said, "the fact that Mr. Miller, who came up with the idea, is so patriotic and really heartfelt about it. … This wasn't a marketing ploy. This was a true act of the heart."
Kyle said her husband had always wanted to travel to Alaska. and the summer before he died, the couple, their children and their parents took a cruise to Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. He wanted to come back, she said.
In February of this year, a jury found Eddie Ray Routh guilty of murdering Chris Kyle. Routh had shot Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, on Feb. 2, 2013, at a gun range outside Stephenville, Texas. Routh had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, The New York Times reported.
To the crowd Tuesday, Taya Kyle said, "I am passionate about helping veterans and their families know that getting help is a sign of strength, not weakness."
Elke Villegas, director of business development for North Star Behavioral Health, said after the dedication ceremony that the Anchorage program for veterans and active duty military started at the end of April and has so far served roughly a dozen people.
The hospital is housed in a North Star building on Bragaw Street previously used as a program for adolescent girls. That program has moved to a building around the corner on DeBarr Road, Villegas said.
North Star has traditionally provided behavioral health services for young people, Mayo said. Its move into its new program is, in part, fueled by the large number of active duty military and veterans in Alaska and the absence of a facility that provides them with inpatient care.
Mayo said Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital will have a "collegial, peer relationship" with the Alaska VA Healthcare System and the military hospitals. He said they will refer people to those locations if they cannot treat them or for outpatient care.
The inpatient treatment program at Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital spans about 28 days, he said. It is meant for active military and veterans who have experienced trauma or need detoxification or rehabilitation for substance abuse. Universal Health Services already has more than a dozen programs like it across the country, he said.
The program currently takes Tricare, a health care program for service members and their dependents, and staff is working on a contract with TriWest Healthcare Alliance, which arranges outsourced care for veterans, Mayo said. It also takes private health insurance, but does not take Medicaid or Medicare, said Debbie Strzelecki, divisional director business development at Universal Health Services.
Valerie Davidson, commissioner of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, said Tuesday that the new program highlighted the collaborative way Alaska provides health care to its residents.
"Any time you have an opportunity to expand health care to people in Alaska who need it, that's an opportunity not to pass up," she said.