The ceremony was meant to be symbolic of the journey the Waco VA has taken and represents the rebirth of its campus, said Bruce Gordon, director of the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, which includes the Temple and Waco VAs.
Many individuals, including politicians, veterans and civilians, were instrumental in telling the story of the Waco VA and describing its potential for treatment and research to those who had the power to save it, he said.
The $3.5 million MRI, housed in a large trailer, will travel between VAs in Waco and Temple and Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood . . . it will go wherever the research subjects are located, Gordon said.
“This is an approach that will result in extraordinary outcomes and is something that will not only help in the science of the endeavor, but actually help us in the development of new treatment for PTSD and some of the other mental health disorders that we see coming back in such numbers in our soldiers returning from overseas,” he said.
Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan surged 46.4 percent in 2007, bringing the five-year total to more than 38,000, according to U.S. military data released last week.
Attending the unveiling was Bill Mahon, a Vietnam War veteran who followed the trials and tribulations of the Waco VA since 2003 when the medical facility was on the chopping block.
“I’m just a veteran who got mad when they told me they were going to shut it down,” Mahon said. “I brought it to the community’s attention and I told them I wouldn’t put up with it.”
The mobile MRI is physical evidence the Waco VA has a future, he said.
The MRI will be used for clinical research, said Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver, director of the Center of Excellence for research on returning war veterans.
“We want to lead the way in understanding the brain interaction of PTSD and those symptom presentations,” Dr. Gulliver said. “Also, we’re looking to really define how traumatic brain injury and psychological symptoms interact.”
Other centers may have mobile MRIs used in clinical settings, but none are as sophisticated or powerful as the Central Texas VA’s, Gulliver said. Since the VA MRI will be used for research, the specifications of the equipment required more precision.
Gulliver said being ahead of the research curve with this MRI is an exciting place to be.
The research that will come from the mobile MRI comes at a critical time - when military personnel and veterans are transitioning into civilian life and facing the challenges of depression, stress and traumatic brain injuries in record numbers, said Timothy Shea, network director of the Heart of Texas Health Care Network.
“This means that thousands of veterans across the country are going to get the health care they desperately need to get back on their feet as productive citizens, after paying a very high price for their service to the country, whether that price is in the form of traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder,” said U.S. Rep Chet Edwards, D-Waco.
It’s fortunate, he said, the nation has matured enough to recognize that those who served in uniform who are suffering from mental health care wounds have made as much of a sacrifice as those who suffered physical injuries.
“What today is really about is meaningful respect for those who put on our nation’s uniform and willingly fight in combat and even if necessary give their lives to our country,” Edwards said.
The mobile MRI will be put into use in about six weeks and its location will be determined by the type of research taking place, said Dr. Keith Young, neuroimaging and genetics corps leader for the VA Center of Excellence at Waco.
Active duty troops before and after deployment will be studied, as will the 10,000 Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans who have enrolled for care in the Central Texas VA system, Young said.
“We’re planning to have thousands of soldiers to join us in these research programs,” Gordon said.
