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Officials to break ground on new TBI center

Military officials will break ground on the new privately-funded National Intrepid Center of Excellence for traumatic brain injuries and psychological health issues Thursday in Bethesda, Md.

The new center, expected to cost $75 million, will provide outpatient evaluation, initial treatment plans and long-term follow-up for service members who suffer a traumatic brain injury.

The center also will feature advanced diagnostics that can help doctors determine if a service member has a mild traumatic brain injury.

Officials estimate that as many as 150,000 troops have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury — or concussion. In 70 percent of those cases, symptoms such as blurry vision and headaches go away on their own. Some symptoms last for a few weeks or months, but about 10 percent of people with mild traumatic brain injuries may have long-term symptoms. Those symptoms can include short-term memory loss, stuttering, sensitivity to noise, tunnel vision, problems with math, slow reaction times and seizures.

Mild injuries often can’t be seen on a CT scan. Moderate to severe injuries are usually easier to diagnose because service members will have a cracked skull or visible bleeding in the brain.

Many service members with traumatic brain injury also suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, which can have symptoms similar to those for traumatic brain injury.

The new center is being funded by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which uses private-sector donations to quickly address the needs of wounded service members, as it did with the Center for the Intrepid. That facility, located at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, provides advanced physical rehabilitation for service members with severe injuries, such as amputated limbs or crushed bones.

Officials expect the new National Intrepid Center of Excellence to be completed by the end of 2009.

Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Navy Secretary Donald Winter, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody, and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Honorary Chairman Arnold Fisher will gather at National Naval Medical Center from 10 to 11:30 a.m. to celebrate the ground-breaking.