VA Secretary Shinseki, Sen. Hutchison Attend Grand Opening
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has dedicated a new Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC) at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) in San Antonio. The state-of-the-art, $66 million inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation center will treat Veterans and active duty Servicemembers with multiple, traumatic injuries. This is VA’s fifth polytrauma center nationwide.
“Today, casualties survive catastrophic injuries that would have been lethal just a few years ago,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki, who gave the keynote address during the dedication event in San Antonio. “More of our wounded are surviving, and more of them are permanently disabled by devastating injuries. They had the will to survive. We owe them the rest of the journey home.”
The cutting-edge Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center will work closely with the Department of Defense to treat Servicemembers and Veterans with physical, cognitive, psychological or psychosocial impairments and functional disabilities. Examples of polytrauma care include traumatic brain injury (TBI), amputations, burns, fractures, hearing loss and visual impairment.
“Families are important to us,” states Marie Weldon, South Texas Veterans
Health Care System director. “We kept them in mind during all project stages of the PRC by not only enhancing Veteran care and expanding services, but also by providing a family-friendly environment.”
VA’s fifth PRC was designed by the architectural joint venture of Smith Group/ Marmon Mok. The PRC will work in conjunction with Brooke Army Medical Center, The Center for the Intrepid, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.
The PRC will consist of 12 acute care polytrauma rehabilitation inpatient beds; physical medicine and rehabilitation services; outpatient polytrauma rehabilitation services; and refurbished prosthetic, rehabilitation and office space.
VA’s Polytrauma System of Care consists of five regional TBI/Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers in Richmond, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Minneapolis, and San Antonio.
The South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) is comprised of two inpatient campuses: the Audie L. Murphy campus in San Antonio and the Kerrville campus in Kerrville, Texas. The STVHCS serves one of the largest service areas in the nation; last year, STVHCS provided almost a million outpatient visits to area Veterans.
For more information about the PRC in San Antonio, contact the South Texas Veterans Health Care System Office of Public Affairs, at (210) 617-5218, or by email, at STXMedia@va.gov.
# # #
###
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
