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PATIENT CENSUS UP AT PALO ALTO VA BRAIN-INJURY UNIT --

The number of patients at the unit has increased in the two

months since the unit was the focus of criticism

at a Washington congressional hearing.

Palo Alto VA

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Story here... http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=6498

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Patient census up at VA brain-injury unit

The number of patients at the unit of the Palo Alto Veteran Affairs Health System hospital that treats soldiers with traumatic brain injuries has increased in the two months since the unit was the focus of criticism at a Washington congressional hearing.

The Palo Alto VA hospital's polytrauma center is one of four VA hospital units in the country that treat brain-injured patients. But it was treating fewer numbers of those patients than the other three, prompting the Congressional hearing in late September.

The other polytrauma centers are at VA hospitals in Richmond, Va., Tampa, Fla. and Minneapolis.

"Data provided by the VA shows that the Palo Alto VA's polytrauma center, from the beginning of the year through July, filled only 60 percent of its available beds, while the other three polytrauma centers combined have been running at 98 percent capacity," said Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Arizona, at last September's hearing. "We have found no good reason why that should be."

Mitchell is the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

"We'll revisit it in early '08," Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, said of the polytrauma center census issue. Bilbray is a member of the House subcommittee.

Occupancy of the beds in the Palo Alto unit has increased since the hearing, according to Dr. Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, deputy director of the Palo Alto VA hospital. The polytrauma center has 12 beds and six others it sometimes uses. "We have been running about 10-14 patients most of the time," he said.

Ezeji-Okoye said the unit has seen an increase in the number of referrals from Walter Reed Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital, where soldiers and Marines wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan are first treated.

One reason for the disparity in the number of brain-injured patients at the Palo Alto center compared to the other three hospitals, Ezeji-Okoye said, is that the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been more East Coast-based up to now, but more California-based troops will be deployed next year, likely increasing patients at the Palo Alto hospital.

Some patients referred to the polytrauma center must first be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder before they can be rehabilitated from their wounds, he said.

"The issue (at the September Congressional hearing) was not about quality of care," Ezeji-Okoye said. "The issue was whether we are treating everyone we could. We're doing more outreach (to Walter Reed and Bethesda)."

— Don Kazak

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Larry Scott  --

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