Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) announces in a news release that it is launching Warrior Care Network, a reportedly first-of-its-kind medical care network to ensure that wounded veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and their families, have access to mental health care.
According to the release, the four founding academic health care partners of Warrior Care Network are: Emory’s Veterans Program at Emory University, Atlanta; the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program; Operation Mend Program at University of California, Los Angeles; and Road Home Program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
WWP and its partners state in the release that they will commit $100 million over the next 3 years to this program, which will connect wounded veterans with mental health care at one of these partner academic medical centers.
According to WWP’s Annual Alumni Survey results, as noted in the release, 75.2% of veteran respondents experience PTSD and 43.2% have incurred a TBI.
“The invisible wounds that our injured warriors struggle with every day have devastating long-term consequences on their health, yet too often they have difficulty seeking and getting timely and effective care for these conditions,” says Jeremy Chwat, chief program officer at WWP, in the release.
“We envision and seek to create a world where warriors who live with PTSD and TBI have access to the timely and quality care they need to recover, heal, and move forward with their lives,” he continues.
Per the release, Warrior Care Network will expand regional outpatient programs and develop 2- to 3-week intensive outpatient programs that will provide individualized care integrating behavioral health care, rehabilitative medicine, wellness, nutrition, mindfulness training, and family support that are tailored to each wounded veteran and family member.
The Warrior Care Network will also ensure that wounded veterans who are eligible for network care will not be denied access to care due to their geographic location or inability to pay.
The release explains that each academic medical center in the Warrior Care Network has committed to providing culturally sensitive, comprehensive care; sharing best practices; coordinating care among sites; and developing and delivering upon measurable health care outcomes.
Also, the release explains, WWP and the individual network sites will recruit and educate wounded veterans about the resources available through Warrior Care Network, facilitate interfacility collaboration, evaluate the effectiveness and scalability of the network, and coordinate services and share best practices in providing services to wounded veterans and family members across the country.
“Big problems need big solutions,” Chwat explains. “Current programs are not adequate to meet the needs of this generation of warriors and their families, and Wounded Warrior Project is stepping up to ensure that warriors who are most at risk and in need of clinical support don’t fall through the cracks.”
For more information, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org
A video explains the aims of the Warrior Care Network.
[Source(s): Wounded Warrior Project, PR Newswire]
