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Birmingham VA Headache Center of Excellence Secures $1.1 Million Annual Funding as Regional Hub to Expand Veteran Care

Birmingham VA Headache Center of Excellence
Front Row (left to right): Katie Fountain, PA-C (HCoE team member); Emily Lane Schlitz Fortenberry, MD, (HCoE Director); and Lynnie Harrison, PA-C (HCoE Vice Director). Back row (left to right): Victor Sung, MD (Assistant Chief of Neurology, BVAMC); Morgan Rambo, PharmD (HCoE team member); Nicole George, LICSW (HCoE team member); Nidhi Kikkeri, MD, (HCoE team member); Matthew McCay (HCoE team member), MD; Peter King, MD (Chief of Neurology, BVAMC).
By Birmingham VA Health Care System, Public Affairs Office

The Birmingham VA Headache Center of Excellence (HCoE) has recently been designated as a “Hub” which is the highest level in the national HCoE program. The Birmingham program will receive an annual budget of $1.1 million to provide headache management to Veterans in the Southeast.

This announcement includes an opportunity to participate in clinical trials for new headache treatments. As the sole Hub in VISN 7 (covering Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina), Birmingham HCoE will expand clinical services to ensure Veterans receive comprehensive and long-term care. 

Service connections 

Chronic headache disorders are prevalent among Veterans with nearly 2 million being diagnosed and treated in the past 15 years. Since 2017, the Birmingham VA Health Care System has seen a 70% increase in patients needing headache care. Chronic headache disorders are connected to war-related injuries including traumatic brain injury, toxic exposures, post-traumatic stress disorder, and military related sexual trauma. 

Dr. E. Lane Schlitz, Associate Professor of Neurology at UAB, oversees the Birmingham VA HCoE as director along with Ms. Lynnie Harrison, PA-C as vice director. “This is a wonderful opportunity,” states Dr. Schlitz, “to help Veterans with debilitating chronic headache with a comprehensive treatment approach. Our interdisciplinary care team implements novel therapies to optimize physical therapy, behavioral therapy, and pharmacologic including interventional procedural therapy.” 

Expanding the future

The success of the HCoE has enabled Dr. Schlitz to develop a United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS)-certified headache fellowship program in association with the UAB Department of Neurology. This program will play a central role in training future headache specialists. Dr. Peter King, Professor of Neurology at UAB and Chief of Neurology for the Birmingham VA Health Care System, comments that “a multidisciplinary approach is the ideal model for treatment of complex chronic headaches and Dr. Schlitz is leading the way.”