Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence to be built for Veterans
A new facility funded by an impressive 600,000 private donations is in the planning stages for a “traumatic brain injury center of excellence.” It will be built on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The cost could range from $50 to $70 million dollars. Bill White, president of the Intrepid Foundation, says that the project will be expedited and built considerably faster than any government sponsored building. “This is different. This is brain stuff. The scale is much more significant in terms of what is needed from a technological standpoint,” White said. One of the donors is the Fisher family. They are known for building and donating the Fisher House Comfort Homes to house military families at little or no cost near military and VA medical facilities. White said the vision for the new project is that “when you go through the center of excellence, we’ll keep an imaginary string tied to you,” to make sure service members and veterans are getting the necessary treatment. The project is targeted to help veterans avoid the consequences of TBI, like homelessness, unemployment, and drug and alcohol addiction. “The government can’t do everything. We have to do what we can to help these kids,” White said.
