Anchor Sites | South Central MIRECC
The South Central MIRECC was funded in 1998 and services Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. We have anchor sites at VA Medical Centers in Houston, Little Rock, New Orleans, and Oklahoma. We work closely with the Health Service Area (HSA) 4.1 Mental Health Product Line, which oversees the delivery of mental health care to VA facilities in the region.
Houston
Little Rock
New Orleans
Oklahoma City
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) provides health care to more than 120,000 Veterans in southeast Texas. MEDVAMC offers primary, secondary and tertiary care on a 118-acre campus. It has 319 inpatient beds, a 40-bed Spinal Cord Injury Center and a 120-bed transitional care unit for long-term care. Approximately 3,500 health care professionals work at MEDVAMC providing high quality care and services.
MEDVAMC is widely recognized as a leader in training and educating health care providers. It is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and 85 other education and research institutions. Our Houston office works closely with the MEDVAMC Mental Health Service Line and the HSR&D Center for Innovations in Quality Effectiveness and Safety.
Houston Site Leader
Lilian Dindo, PhD
Lilian.Dindo@bcm.edu
Houston Anchor Site Administrative Officer
Kendall R. Moore
Kendall.Moore2@va.gov
Program Analyst
Sarah Pollard
Sarah.Pollard@va.gov
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) is a large and complex VA Healthcare System. It is affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). CAVHS is located in a metropolitan area of approximately 580,000 people and draws from a primary service area of 275,000 Veterans. CAVHS provides medical, surgical, psychiatric, rehabilitation, and nursing home services, as well as outpatient, specialty and primary care programs.
CAVHS offers a range of clinical training opportunities in mental health and shares training programs with UAMS. Our Little Rock office works closely with the HSR&D Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research and the VA Behavioral Health Quality Enhancement Research Initiative program. We also have a close relationship with the UAMS Center for Health Services Research and the UAMS Translational Research Institute.
Little Rock Site Leader
Jeffrey (Jeff) Pyne, MD
pynejeffreym@uams.edu
South Central MIRECC Budget Analyst
Dale Perkins
Wendell.Perkins@va.gov
Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System (SLVHCS) provides quality, compassionate, safe health care to Veteran patients throughout 23 parishes in southeast Louisiana.
New Orleans Site Leaders
C. Laurel Harlin, PhD
Laurel.Harlin@va.gov
Amanda Raines, PhD
Amanda.Raines@va.gov
Program Site Assistant
Damien Harvey
Damien.Harvey@va.gov
Oklahoma City VA Medical Center (OKCVAMC) provides health and support services throughout Oklahoma. OKCVAMC is a tertiary care facility and a teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. The medical center is affiliated with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).
Site Leader
Kristen, Sorocco, PhD
Kristen.Sorocco@va.gov
Last updated: August 14, 2026
