Letter to James Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Re: VA Hospitals Should Partner with Private Rehab Facilities to Treat Traumatic Injuries
Letter
Letter to James Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Re: VA Hospitals Should Partner with Private Rehab Facilities to Treat Traumatic Injuries
Durbin: VA Hospitals Should Partner with Private Rehab Facilities to Treat Traumatic Injuries
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. James Peake, asking the VA to exercise the authority provided by Congress to collaborate with private sector rehabilitation facilities for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Durbin also encouraged Peake to visit the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago - recognized as the best rehabilitation hospital in the county since 1991 - which stands ready to work with the VA to provide long-term, neurobehavioral rehabilitation and recovery to our veterans.
"Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the signature injury of the current conflict," wrote Durbin. "We spoke last week about my experience with Eric Edmundson, a veteran of the Iraq conflict whose recovery from a severe TBI dramatically improved after being treated at RIC. In this instance, a private rehabilitation center was the right answer. It could be for many other veterans under similar circumstances."
Recognizing the challenges of providing effective treatment for the estimated 320,000 U.S. service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan with some level of TBI, Congress included a provision in the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Act allowing the VA to team with public or private entities offering long-term, neurobehavioral rehabilitation and recovery programs.
Text of the letter appears below:
June 25, 2008
The Honorable James Peake
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Secretary Peake:
I appreciate our conversation of last week regarding care of our nation's veterans. I want to reiterate my request that you visit the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and to better understand how the Veterans Administration (VA) is currently exercising its authority to take advantage of the private facilities to help heal and rehabilitate veterans with traumatic injuries.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the signature injury of the current conflict. The latest studies estimate as many as 320,000 U.S. service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan have experienced some level of traumatic brain injury. This is a difficult injury to treat and can be difficult even to diagnose. Recognizing the challenges of providing effective treatment for such a significant population, Congress included a provision in the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Act allowing the VA to team with public or private entities offering long-term, neurobehavioral rehabilitation and recovery programs.
Unfortunately, it appears the VA is not exercising this option. While the emergence of the VA polytrauma centers over the past several years is a positive step, the need for treatment of traumatic brain injury among veterans is immediate and acute. The polytrauma centers are critically important, but they can't do it all. The VA should exercise the authority provided by Congress to collaborate with private sector rehabilitation facilities.
The best rehabilitation hospital in the country since 1991, according to U.S. News and World Report, stands ready and willing to work with the VA to provide state-of-the-art treatment for brain injury. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) is particularly well equipped to treat severe TBI cases. RIC can accommodate as many as twenty of these cases at one time, yet only receives one or two. Similar, well-equipped rehabilitation facilities across the country are available to help serve wounded veterans, but are equally underutilized.
Despite repeated efforts by my staff to determine how many veterans have been referred to private facilities, how such referral decisions are made, who makes those decisions and treatment outcomes, I have very little information about the VA's practices in this area. Please provide answers to these questions in writing.
We spoke last week about my experience with Eric Edmundson, a veteran of the Iraq conflict whose recovery from a severe TBI dramatically improved after being treated at RIC. In this instance, a private rehabilitation center was the right answer. It could be for many other veterans under similar circumstances.
I appreciate your willingness to tour the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In turn, I look forward to learning more about the polytrauma centers the VA has established.
Sincerely,
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator
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