Summary

Creates a permanent Office of Novel Therapeutics inside the Veterans Health Administration and requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to deliver a national preparedness and implementation strategy within 180 days. The strategy must assess workforce needs, facility modifications, phased timelines, and barriers to safely evaluate and roll out emerging mental health treatments (including psychedelic-assisted therapies undergoing FDA review) across VA care settings. The law sets out congressional findings that these new therapies may need dedicated clinical space, interdisciplinary teams, structured preparation, and post-treatment integration, and that centralized governance within VA will help manage risk, research, and consistent access once therapies are approved.

• Creates an Office of Novel Therapeutics inside the Veterans Health Administration to coordinate evaluation and implementation of emerging mental health treatments.
• Requires the VA Secretary to submit a national preparedness and implementation strategy to Congress within 180 days of enactment.
• Strategy must assess workforce capacity, facility modification needs, phased timelines, and barriers to implementation.
• Explicitly calls out emerging therapies, including psychedelic-assisted therapies under FDA evaluation, as requiring specialized care models.
• Does not appropriate new funds or directly authorize clinical use of specific therapies—implementation depends on VA resources and regulatory approvals.
• Aims to centralize governance to reduce inconsistent access, safety risks, and delays after any regulatory approvals.
• Emphasizes interdisciplinary care, structured patient preparation, and post-treatment integration distinct from routine outpatient services.
• Implementation will require coordination with clinical, research, and operational VA components and potentially external regulators and partners.