Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, July 22, 2010, the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee, led by Chairman Michael Michaud (D-ME), held a hearing to explore whether the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is meeting the needs of veterans who sustained severe injuries while serving the country in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hearing specifically focused on specialized services provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), such as blind rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, polytrauma centers, and prosthetics and sensory aid programs.
“With advances in protective body armor and combat medicine, our service members are surviving war wounds which otherwise would have resulted in casualties,” said Chairman Michaud. “Many service members who are severely injured in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) will require sophisticated, comprehensive, and often lifelong care. We know that blast injuries from improvised explosive devices are the most common causes of injury and death on today’s battlefields. Blast injuries often include combinations of traumatic brain injury, blindness, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, and damage to the limbs which results in amputations.”
Hearing participants discussed the need for veterans to have access to the most current therapies for treating their injuries and identified ways VA could improve the care delivered to veterans. The need for working electronic medical health records was underscored as a way to build on military diagnosis, develop a long-term care plan, and better streamline care as service members leave the military and turn to the VA for health care. Witnesses reported long waits for specialty appointments, long drives to VA facilities, failure to properly screen for related injuries, and the need for improved care coordination between the VA and the Department of Defense.
Bob Filner (D-CA), Chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said, “After more than three years as Chairman, I was hoping for a better progress report on how VA provides care for seriously injured veterans. Although VA offers vital specialty services tailored to veterans’ needs, there is room for improvement when it comes to how this care is delivered. VA health care is good once the veteran is able to find it, yet I remain concerned that coordination of this care is lacking. Until I am certain that each veteran can access the care he or she needs, this Committee will continue to urge the VA to compassionately coordinate care for seriously injured veterans.”
Witness List:
Panel 1
- Thomas Zampieri, Ph.D., Director of Government Relations, Blinded Veterans Association
- Carl Blake, National Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America
- Joy J. Ilem, Deputy National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans
- Tom Tarantino, Legislative Associate, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
- Denise A. Williams, Assistant Director for Health Policy, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, The American Legion
Panel 2
- Jack Smith, M.D., MMM, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clinical and Program Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
- Lucille B. Beck, Ph.D., Chief Consultant, Rehabilitation Services, Office of Patient Care Services, Director, Audiology and Speech Pathology Service, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Accompanied by:
- Margaret C. Hammond, M.D., Chief Consultant, Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders Services, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Deborah Amdur, LCSW, Chief Consultant, Care Management and Social Work Service, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Billie Randolph, Deputy Chief, Prosthetics, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Prepared testimony and a link to the webcast are available on the internet at this link: http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?newsid=608.
– Working for better progress on how VA provides care for seriously injured veterans –
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