Houston VA Epilepsy Center receives highest national accreditation rating
The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston recently became the first VA in the nation to become accredited as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC).
This status is the highest level of accreditation for epilepsy care and recognizes programs with the professional expertise and advanced capabilities to provide the medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.
“This accreditation affirms our team’s dedication to providing the most advanced, expert care to Veterans,” said Frank Vazquez, Medical Center Director. “Working in partnership with clinicians throughout our VA, our epilepsy-specialized neurologists and neurosurgeons offer Veterans the most advanced treatment and management capabilities. We are committed to providing our Veterans with the world-class care they so richly deserve.”
The Houston VA Epilepsy Center of Excellence (ECoE) is one of 19 throughout the VA system. The Center utilizes state-of-the-art digital diagnostic equipment and offers Veterans a wide array of treatment and diagnostic options including electroencephalography (EEG), Video/EEG long-term monitoring (4-bed epilepsy monitoring unit), ambulatory EEG, comprehensive inpatient care, outpatient Epilepsy Clinics, patient education, neuropsychological evaluations, and neuroradiological imaging including MRI, ictal SPECT, and PET scans.
“We take great pride in offering Veterans specialized treatment, including group therapy and individualized cognitive behavior therapy for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures,” said Dr. Pitchaiah Mandava, director of the Houston VA neurology program and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. “We have robot-assisted surgery (ROSA), intracranial EEG monitoring, epilepsy surgery, epilepsy device implantation and much more. Our goal is to utilize the latest technology and all our resources to develop a treatment plan individualized for each and every Veteran we serve.”
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, director of Houston VA’s ECoE, says the new accreditation is great news for staff and Veterans alike.
“This landmark achievement recognizing that the Houston VA provides the highest level of epilepsy care regionally and nationally, would not have been possible without the relentless dedication of our team of epilepsy specialists, technicians, nurses, neuropsychology/neurosurgery/neuroradiology colleagues and administrative personnel,” Haneef said. “Together, we are proud to set new benchmarks in epilepsy care for our Veterans, embodying our collective commitment to excellence, innovation, and the compassionate care of those who have served our country.”
For more information about our epilepsy treatment at the Houston VA, call
Epilepsy Clinic: Room 2B-150, 2nd Floor, main hospital
Phone: 713-791-1414, ext. 228835