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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> May 7, 2008
>
> VA-DoD Program Serves Severely Disabled Combat Veterans
>
> WASHINGTON -- Bolstering its commitment to improve services to those
> seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Veterans
> Affairs (VA) and its federal partners have marked a milestone with
> establishment of a promised new office and deployment of workers to
> key military treatment facilities.
>
> "The President vowed action on this key recommendation from his
> advisory commission on war veterans\' needs, and today our new Federal
> Recovery Coordinator Program office is actively at work with dozens of
> severely injured patients around the country," said Secretary of
> Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.
>
> In coordination with the Department of Defense and the Department of
> Health and Human Services, the joint Federal Recovery Coordinator
> Program is designed to cut across bureaucratic lines and reach into
> the private sector as necessary to identify services needed for
> seriously wounded and ill service members, veterans and their
> families.
>
> A key recommendation of a presidential commission chaired by former
> Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
> Shalala, the recovery coordinators do not directly provide care, but
> coordinates federal health care teams and private community resources
> to achieve the personal and professional goals of an individualized
> \"life map\" or recovery plan developed with the service members or
> veterans who qualify for the federal recovery coordinator program.
>
> At VA, which is coordinating the recovery coordinators' office, a
> director has been appointed, Ginnean Quisenberry, and six field staff
> members are actively working with 85 patients at three major military
> treatment facilities, with four additional coordinators expected to be
> appointed soon.
>
> Currently the federal recovery coordinators are based at three
> military hospitals most likely to receive severely wounded service
> members evacuated from the combat theater: Walter Reed Army Medical
> Center in Washington, National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.,
> and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
>
> **Recovery Coordinators 2/2/2/2**
>
> A fourth site, Naval Medical Center San Diego, will receive two of the
> additional four field staff expected to be appointed soon.
>
> Though initially based in military facilities, their work seamlessly
> extends into the patient\'s civilian life after discharge. Heeding
> President Bush\'s charge to ensure these severely injured persons do
> not get lost in the system, the coordinators actively link the veteran
> with public and private resources that will meet their rehabilitation
> needs.
>
> Participating patients will include those with seriously debilitating
> burns, spinal cord injuries, amputations, visual impairments,
> traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
>
> While initially focused in early stages for current military hospital
> inpatients, the FRCP involvement is expected to be a lifetime
> commitment to veterans and their families. The coordinators will
> maintain contacts by phone, visits and e-mail.
>
> When a veteran settles in a remote area, VA will be able to use
> multimedia systems that integrate video and audio teleconferencing so
> that veterans may visit a federal clinic or private center near their
> homes to link up with their case coordinator for a meeting.
>
> The federal agencies are actively discussing ideas for ongoing
> improvements to the process, including monitoring demand patterns for
> possible adjustments to staffing as well as improved Web-based
> information for the service member adjusting to civilian life, such as
> links to a comprehensive guide to governmental and private-sector
> services integrated with their individual recovery plan and their own
> health records.

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