I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2179 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to establish traumatic brain injury centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2007 

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish traumatic brain 

injury centers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY CENTERS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 

5 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

6 after section 7320 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 7320A. Centers for traumatic brain injury re8 search, education, and clinical activities 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

10 provide for the improvement of the provision of health care 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2179 IH

1 to eligible veterans with traumatic brain injuries 

2 through— 

3 ‘‘(1) the conduct of research (including research 

4 on improving facilities of the Department concen5 trating on traumatic brain injury care and on im6 proving the delivery of traumatic brain injury care 

7 by the Department); 

8 ‘‘(2) the education and training of health care 

9 personnel of the Department; and 

10 ‘‘(3) the development of improved models and 

11 systems for the furnishing of traumatic brain injury 

12 care by the Department. 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—(1) The Sec14 retary shall establish and operate centers for traumatic 

15 brain injury research, education, and clinical activities. 

16 Such centers shall be established and operated by collabo17 rating Department facilities as provided in subsection 

18 (c)(1). Each such center shall function as a center for— 

19 ‘‘(A) research on traumatic brain injury; 

20 ‘‘(B) the use by the Department of specific 

21 models for furnishing traumatic brain injury care; 

22 ‘‘(C) education and training of health-care pro23 fessionals of the Department; and 

24 ‘‘(D) the development and implementation of 

25 innovative clinical activities and systems of care with 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2179 IH

1 respect to the delivery of traumatic brain injury care 

2 by the Department. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, upon the recommendation 

4 of the Under Secretary for Health, designate the centers 

5 under this section. In making such designations, the Sec6 retary shall ensure that the centers designated are located 

7 in various geographic regions of the United States. The 

8 Secretary may designate a center under this section only 

9 if— 

10 ‘‘(A) the proposal submitted for the designation 

11 of the center meets the requirements of subsection 

12 (c); 

13 ‘‘(B) the Secretary makes the finding described 

14 in subsection (d); and 

15 ‘‘(C) the peer review panel established under 

16 subsection (e) makes the determination specified in 

17 subsection (e)(3) with respect to that proposal. 

18 ‘‘(3) Not more than five centers may be designated 

19 under this section. 

20 ‘‘(4) The authority of the Secretary to establish and 

21 operate centers under this section is subject to the appro22 priation of funds for that purpose. 

23 ‘‘(c) PROPOSALS FOR DESIGNATION OF CENTERS.— 

24 A proposal submitted for the designation of a center under 

25 this section shall— 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2179 IH

1 ‘‘(1) provide for close collaboration in the estab2 lishment and operation of the center, and for the 

3 provision of care and the conduct of research and 

4 education at the center, by a Department facility or 

5 facilities in the same geographic area which have a 

6 mission centered on traumatic brain injury care and 

7 a Department facility in that area which has a mis8 sion of providing tertiary medical care; 

9 ‘‘(2) provide that no less than 50 percent of the 

10 funds appropriated for the center for support of clin11 ical care, research, and education will be provided to 

12 the collaborating facility or facilities that have a 

13 mission centered on traumatic brain injury care; and 

14 ‘‘(3) provide for a governance arrangement be15 tween the collaborating Department facilities which 

16 ensures that the center will be established and oper17 ated in a manner aimed at improving the quality of 

18 traumatic brain injury care at the collaborating fa19 cility or facilities which have a mission centered on 

20 traumatic brain injury care. 

21 ‘‘(d) FINDING OF SECRETARY.—The finding referred 

22 to in subsection (b)(2)(B) with respect to a proposal for 

23 designation of a site as a location of a center under this 

24 section is a finding by the Secretary, upon the rec25 ommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, that the 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2179 IH

1 facilities submitting the proposal have developed (or may 

2 reasonably be anticipated to develop) each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) An arrangement with an accredited med4 ical school that provides education and training in 

5 traumatic brain injury care and with which one or 

6 more of the participating Department facilities is af7 filiated under which medical residents receive edu8 cation and training in traumatic brain injury care 

9 through regular rotation through the participating 

10 Department facilities so as to provide such residents 

11 with training in the diagnosis and treatment of trau12 matic brain injury. 

13 ‘‘(2) An arrangement under which nursing, so14 cial work, counseling, or allied health personnel re15 ceive training and education in traumatic brain in16 jury care through regular rotation through the par17 ticipating Department facilities. 

18 ‘‘(3) The ability to attract scientists who have 

19 demonstrated achievement in research— 

20 ‘‘(A) into the evaluation of innovative ap21 proaches to the design of traumatic brain injury 

22 care; or 

23 ‘‘(B) into the causes, prevention, and 

24 treatment of traumatic brain injury. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2179 IH

1 ‘‘(4) The capability to evaluate effectively the 

2 activities of the center, including activities relating 

3 to the evaluation of specific efforts to improve the 

4 quality and effectiveness of traumatic brain injury 

5 care provided by the Department at or through indi6 vidual facilities. 

7 ‘‘(e) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—(1) In order to provide 

8 advice to assist the Secretary and the Under Secretary for 

9 Health to carry out their responsibilities under this sec10 tion, the official within the central office of the Veterans 

11 Health Administration responsible for traumatic brain in12 jury care shall establish a peer review panel to assess the 

13 scientific and clinical merit of proposals that are sub14 mitted to the Secretary for the designation of centers 

15 under this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) The panel shall consist of experts in the fields 

17 of traumatic brain injury research, education and training, 

18 and clinical care. Members of the panel shall serve as con19 sultants to the Department. 

20 ‘‘(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted 

21 to the panel by the official referred to in paragraph (1) 

22 and shall submit to that official its views on the relative 

23 scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal. The 

24 panel shall specifically determine with respect to each such 

25 proposal whether that proposal is among those proposals 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2179 IH

1 which have met the highest competitive standards of sci2 entific and clinical merit. 

3 ‘‘(4) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal 

4 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

5 ‘‘(f) AWARD OF FUNDING.—Clinical and scientific in6 vestigation activities at each center established under this 

7 section— 

8 ‘‘(1) may compete for the award of funding 

9 from amounts appropriated for the Department of 

10 Veterans Affairs medical and prosthetics research 

11 account; and 

12 ‘‘(2) shall receive priority in the award of fund13 ing from such account insofar as funds are awarded 

14 to projects and activities relating to traumatic brain 

15 injury. 

16 ‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION OF USEFUL INFORMATION.— 

17 The Under Secretary for Health shall ensure that infor18 mation produced by the research, education and training, 

19 and clinical activities of centers established under this sec20 tion that may be useful for other activities of the Veterans 

21 Health Administration is disseminated throughout the 

22 Veterans Health Administration. Such dissemination shall 

23 be made through publications, through programs of con24 tinuing medical and related education provided through 

25 regional medical education centers under subchapter VI 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2179 IH

1 of chapter 74 of this title, and through other means. Such 

2 programs of continuing medical education shall receive 

3 priority in the award of funding. 

4 ‘‘(h) SUPERVISION OF CENTERS.—The official within 

5 the central office of the Veterans Health Administration 

6 responsible for traumatic brain injury care shall be re7 sponsible for supervising the operation of the centers es8 tablished pursuant to this section and shall provide for 

9 ongoing evaluation of the centers and their compliance 

10 with the requirements of this section. 

11 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Depart13 ment of Veterans Affairs for the basic support of the re14 search and education and training activities of centers es15 tablished pursuant to this section such sums as may be 

16 necessary. 

17 ‘‘(2) In addition to funds appropriated for a fiscal 

18 year pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

19 paragraph (1), the Under Secretary for Health shall allo20 cate to such centers from other funds appropriated for 

21 that fiscal year generally for the Department of Veterans 

22 Affairs medical services account and the Department of 

23 Veterans Affairs medical and prosthetics research account 

24 such amounts as the Under Secretary for Health deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:24 May 05, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2179.IH H2179

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
9 

•HR 2179 IH

1 mines appropriate to carry out the purposes of this sec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(j) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than February 1 

4 of each year the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

5 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

6 House of Representatives a report on the status and ac7 tivities of the centers for traumatic brain injury research, 

8 education, and clinical activities during the preceding fis9 cal year. Each such report shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A description of the activities carried out 

11 at each center and the funding provided by the De12 partment for such activities. 

13 ‘‘(2) A description of the advances made at 

14 each of the participating facilities of the center in 

15 research, education and training, and clinical activi16 ties relating to traumatic brain injury care and 

17 treatment. 

18 ‘‘(3) A description of the actions taken by the 

19 Under Secretary for Health pursuant to subsection 

20 (g) to disseminate information derived from such ac21 tivities throughout the Veterans Health Administra22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(4) The evaluation of the Secretary as to the 

24 effectiveness of the centers in fulfilling the purposes 

25 of this section.’’. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
10 

•HR 2179 IH

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

3 after the item relating to section 7320 the following new 

4 item: 

‘‘7320A. Centers for traumatic brain injury research, education, and clinical activities.’’. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS