Private funds pave way for new rehab center - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Private funds pave way for new rehab center

SAN ANTONIO — Wounded warriors from all branches of service will benefit from a $50 million gift formally presented Monday — a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines recovering from amputations and other serious injuries.

The Center of the Intrepid, at Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, was built with private funds donated by more than 600,000 Americans to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

The private funds came from people who recognized that all have a duty to give back to the service members who have sacrificed, said Richard Santulli, chairman of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

And it was important to keep the focus on the troops, not the donors, he said — hence, the name “Intrepid” to honor the valor and dedication of those it serves.

“We could have raised the funds in two weeks if we’d have allowed someone to name the building,” he said. “Instead, we chose ‘Intrepid.’”

But one person Santulli did credit was radio personality Don Imus, who played a crucial role in getting the project funded.

When fund-raising stalled at 60 percent, Santulli asked Imus to help — and besides making a personal donation, Imus made the project a daily topic on his radio program, resulting in donations filling the remaining 40 percent within six weeks.

Two new 21-room Fisher Houses, which provide free housing for families of seriously injured service members, also will be turned over to BAMC. That makes four Fisher Houses at BAMC and 37 in all at various military bases.

At the dedication ceremony Monday, 3,200 people gave a standing ovation as the 330 wounded service members who were the real guests of honor filed in.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Peter Pace told them he objected to descriptions that they had lost a limb or other function.

“You gave an arm, you gave a leg, you gave up your sight, as gifts to your nation, that we might live in freedom,” he said, thanking them and their family members as well.

“Those of you who are family members of the fallen and the wounded have served the country as much as anyone who has ever worn the uniform — and we thank you.”

Other speakers included Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, and Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

The 65,000-square-foot center becomes the new home for BAMC’s Amputee Care Center, as well as providing rehabilitation support for burn patients and patients undergoing “limb salvage” — rebuilding arms and legs seriously damaged, but not amputated.

The main exercise area is adjacent to the shops where prosthetics are made and adjusted, allowing close coordination between therapists and prostheticians.

It includes exercise equipment, a running track and a climbing wall. Also in the center are a gait center, which uses sensor dots and pressure pads to create a 3-D computer analysis of how a patient moves, and a swimming pool that includes an artificial wave pool where patients can work on balance and “core strength.”

Another facility is the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN), a giant sphere able to surround a patient with various environments while he or she learns to balance and move on a computer-controlled platform.

While physical therapists retrain patients how to move, occupational therapists focus on how to live, with equipment ranging from a driving simulator with hand controls to a practice apartment.

In the Firearm Training System, computer simulations of everything from range firing to intense urban combat are available, allowing patients intent on returning to service to work on both their tactics and techniques — and psychologically recover from the trauma of combat.