CANANDAIGUA -- The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has visited an upstate New York medical center to inspect the national veterans suicide prevention hot line.

VA Secretary Dr. James Peake says the recent rise in the number of veterans who commit suicide prompted his visit on Thursday to the Canandaigua (KAN'-uhn-DAY'-gwah) VA Medical Center. The national suicide prevention hot line and the counselors who staff it are based at the center, about 30 miles from Rochester.

The VA's 24-hour national suicide prevention hot line number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Peake said more than 30,000 veterans used the hot line last year. The West Point graduate, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, calls suicide "a chronic problem" that is finally being recognized.