When Jordan Hunkin—who had suffered head injuries during eight years of service with the Marines in tours of Afghanistan and Iraq—went to the Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida, in 2023, he was expecting to enroll in a program to help him deal with the mental anguish that had been tormenting him.
Instead, he was improperly tackled, restrained and held prisoner at the hospital for three days under Florida’s Baker Act—all against his will.
The experience shattered him and caused his death.
After Hunkin was released, he refused to return to the VA. Friends say he was never the same again. Six months later, he killed himself at just 36 years old.
“As far as I’m concerned, this cannot happen to another veteran.”
In what amounts to a formal admission of guilt, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report stating it had conducted an investigation “to assess an allegation that a patient was ‘misled’ by staff and incorrectly involuntarily admitted to the inpatient mental health unit, and that VA staff actions led to the patient’s disengagement from VA mental health care and eventual death by suicide.” The office “identified deficiencies in staff adherence and leaders’ oversight pertaining to Veterans Health Administration policy and the Baker Act,” and acknowledged “that staff incorrectly applied the involuntary inpatient Baker Act examination hold criteria.”
Susan Tostenrude of the VA’s Office of Healthcare Inspections, likewise admitted: “It definitely was a significant failure.” But she went even further, stating that incorrect use of the psychiatric Baker Act “could be” systemic throughout the VA’s more than 170 medical centers nationwide.
The OIG report also stated that, in a random sample of 100 patients admitted to the same VA mental health unit as Hunkin between October 2022 and September 2023, 61 were admitted involuntarily. In 28 percent of the cases, required staff action was not taken within 72 hours, as mandated by law. In 15 percent of the cases, documentation was inaccurate and inconsistent.
The OIG recommended a series of 12 changes to Baker Act policies at VA hospitals—policies that should have been in place when Hunkin came to the VA for treatment in the first place. If they had been, he might still be alive today.
“It’s just unacceptable,” said Florida Congressman Gus Bilirakis. “As far as I’m concerned, this cannot happen to another veteran.”
James Hobby, Hunkin’s fellow Marine and friend, said that, after Hunkin was involuntarily incarcerated, “he was a completely, totally different person. He was very frantic; he was very distraught.… He showed up and he asked for this person’s name that he was supposed to be meeting there and, upon asking for that person’s name, he was tackled and restrained and held for three days.”
Veterans’ lives are on the line here. How many more will die?
Hunkin’s mother, Beverly, was more direct: “You threw my son under the bus,” she angrily accused the VA. “You didn’t take care of him.”
A spokesperson for the hospital said, “The entire North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System is devastated by this tragedy and from the moment it occurred, we’ve sought to understand what took place so that it never happens again. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the veteran’s family and loved ones.”
My, that’s comforting—but it’s too little, too late. Jordan Hunkin is dead and the VA has nothing to offer but regrets and condolences. Shameful.
The Baker Act itself is a violation of human rights, as the World Health Organization confirmed when it said: “Ending coercive practices in mental health—such as involuntary detention, forced treatment, seclusion and restraints—is essential in order to respect the right to make decisions about one’s own health care and treatment choices. Moreover, a growing body of evidence sets out how coercive practices negatively impact physical and mental health, often compounding a person’s existing condition.”
It’s a perfect description of what happened to Jordan Hunkin.
Who knows how many more veterans are being involuntarily taken into psychiatric custody because they innocently and naively went to a VA hospital for help?
William-Joseph Mojica, the North Florida/South Georgia VA chief of communications, said the VA is “undertaking significant steps” to address the problem.
“Undertaking significant steps”? Is that the best they can do? Veterans’ lives are on the line here. How many more will die between now and the time those “steps” are in place?
A December 2024 VA report notes that, in 2022, 6,407 US veterans committed suicide—271 females and 6,136 males. That’s 17.6 veteran suicides per day. The same report also indicates that 50.4 percent of veteran suicide victims had received VA services while 49.6 percent had not. That means veterans were slightly better off if they never went to the VA in the first place.
Even one veteran who kills himself is one too many.
Jordan Hunkin’s tragic and needless death was one too many.
These are our American heroes we’re talking about here—and we must do a better job of taking care of them when their job of protecting us is through.
We owe it to them.
We can do no less.
