Billionaire hedge-fund investor Steven A. Cohen is committing$275 million to form a national network of free mental health clinics formilitary veterans and their families.

The pledge is his biggest yet under a philanthropic push thatgrew after his son, Robert, was deployed as a U.S. Marine toAfghanistan in 2010. Cohen is seeking to open 25 clinics by 2020serving a total of more than 25,000 patients a year, said AnthonyHassan, the retired Air Force officer who runs the initiativeas executive director of the Cohen Veterans Network.

“Half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veteranssay they know a fellow veteran who attempted or committed suicide. Half!” Cohen saidin remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday night at a fundraiserfor the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. “After 9/11, ourveterans rushed to protect us. Now it is our turn to protectthem.”

Cohen, who runs Point72 Asset Management and has an $11.1billion fortune according to the Bloomberg BillionairesIndex, gotinvolved in veterans’ mental health while serving on theRobin Hood Foundation’s board. A clinic at NYU Langone MedicalCenter in New York that Cohen helped open with Robin Hood serves asthe model for the others.

A San Antonio facility is opening in partnership with FamilyEndeavors. A Dallas clinic affiliated with Metrocare Services willbe added in June. Los Angeles and Philadelphia locations will berunning by September, based at the University of SouthernCalifornia and University of Pennsylvania, respectively. Ninety-sixpercent of the Cohen Veterans Network budget will go to theclinics, mostly for care, with 16 percent for electronic recordimplementation, data analytics and training.

Medal of Honor recipient Kyle White, whoserved in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, is among veterans advisingon the project. The fixed-income trader at Bank of America Corp.’s.Merrill Lynch said he wants to lift stigmas associated with seekingtreatment for post-traumatic stress, anxiety,depression and family problems.

“I admitted I needed help — and here I am today, andeverything is OK,” White said. “Maybe I can use my example toencourage a veteran or a family member that it’s going to be OK. IfI can do it, they can do it.”

Cohen also backs Cohen Veterans Bioscience to acceleratedevelopment of biomarker tests and drug-based therapies forpost-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.The organization has at least $30 million to spend onresearch in the next five years. Patients at the Cohen VeteransNetwork clinics will be able to participate in studies, creating a“tight circuit, a learning system,” according to the nonprofit’schief, Magali Haas.

Cohen long captivated Wall Street with his high returns whilebuilding SAC Capital Advisors. That firm pleaded guilty in 2013 andpaid a record $1.8 billion to resolve U.S. claims over insidertrading. While Cohen wasn’t charged with wrongdoing, he agreed tostop managing outside money. He renamed his firm Point72 and hirednew executives. In January, the firm was cleared to manage otherpeople’s money as soon as early 2018, though it hasn’t publiclyannounced plans to raise outside capital.

Hassan works out of Point72’s offices in Stamford, Connecticut,once known for its chilly trading floor and investing staff infleece. He and Cohen meet about every other week. On Sunday theyreviewed a meeting with a potential clinic partner in Colorado anddiscussed plans for Cohen to visit facilities.

“It’s almost as if I’m one of the portfoliomanagers — I’m just not making money, I’m spendingmoney,” said Hassan. “We do have fleeces. It’s part of the culture,and we very much feel part of the firm.”