| Veterans
News Flash 
VA
Boosts Services and
Research in Spinal Cord Injury
Nicholson Breaks Ground at State-of-Art Milwaukee
Facility
MILWAUKEE – During
a ground-breaking ceremony today for a world-class
facility for spinal cord injuries, Secretary
of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson committed the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand
programs and open new facilities for seriously
disabled veterans with spinal cord injuries.
"VA’s health care facilities provide
world-class health care for America’s veterans,” said
Nicholson. “Especially for our most seriously
disabled veterans, VA is committed to continuing
its role as a world leader in treatment and research.”
The new spinal cord injury center at the Milwaukee
VA Medical Center is a $32.5 million building and
will open by 2010 to replace an existing converted
ward in the hospital. It comes on the heels of
another ground-breaking by Nicholson just a month
ago for a new $20 million spinal cord injury center
attached to the VA medical center in Minneapolis.
“VA is the only -- and best -- resource
for a veteran with a spinal cord injury,” said
Randy L. Pleva Sr., national president of Paralyzed
Veterans of America (PVA). “We are proud
of the accomplishments of the VA in health care.”
This week, PVA is co-sponsoring with the Milwaukee
VA Medical Center the 27th National Veterans Wheelchair
Games, an athletic showcase open to veterans with
spinal cord injuries and other mobility impairments
that celebrates the value of sports in rehabilitation
therapy and fosters better health through sports
competition.
VA is a leader in spinal cord injury health care
research and rehabilitation, providing a coordinated
lifelong continuum of services for eligible veterans
with spinal cord injuries of all ages. VA's expertise
in this area ranges from emergency care and surgical
stabilization to rehabilitation, preventive care,
and long-term care.
The department's investment in spinal cord injury
research is yielding practical medical applications
such as reducing pressure ulcers and increasing
the use of annual influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations.
VA research on spinal cord injuries is exploring
new frontiers such as nerve regeneration, activity-based
therapies that target recovery of standing and
walking skills and developing prosthetics that
have a direct connection to the nervous system.
Last year, VA spent nearly $19 million on 186 research
projects relating to central nervous system injury
and associated disorders.
Responding to the needs of the latest generation
of combat veterans, VA has developed a network
of polytrauma rehabilitation centers that bring
together specialists in spinal cord injury and
other experts into multidisciplinary teams that
aid injured troops with other severe disabilities
such as traumatic brain injury, amputation, blindness,
and complex orthopedic injuries, auditory disorders
and mental health concerns.
About 80 percent of
veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders
are at least 50 years of age. However, many of
the approximately 450 newly injured veterans
and active-duty members who received rehabilitation
at VA’s spinal cord injury
centers last year are young adults.
Treatment and technology
have improved so that veterans with spinal cord
injuries have increasingly longer life expectancies.
Maintaining health, preventive medicine and early
treatment of new conditions are important parts
of VA’s lifelong care.
Last year, VA provided a full range of care to
nearly 26,000 veterans with spinal cord injuries
and diseases.
VA's specialized services
are delivered through 135 primary care teams
or support clinics for spinal cord injuries at
VA medical centers and through 23 regional spinal
cord injury centers.
SOURCE:
US Department of Veterans Affair
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