Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital is proud to provide accredited brain injury rehabilitation for our wounded military personnel.
According to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, head and neck injuries, including severe brain trauma, have been reported in one quarter of service members who have been evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these service men and women have difficulty getting effectively diagnosed and treated for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- two diagnoses that frequently occur together in military personnel wounded from blast injuries.
Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital has partnerships with regional Veterans Administration departments and the Department of Defense, so military service men and women can access the comprehensive rehabilitation care that brain injury requires. CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission, stated during it's most recent survey at Madonna in April 2009 "Madonna Rehabilitation is exemplary in its development of a military contract to provide neuropsychological assessments and treatment for brain injury. This was accomplished through input from and collaboration with multiple stakeholders and has addressed an unmet need in this community."
"With the advancements in protective armor and excellent emergency care at the medical bases, many more soldiers are surviving what would have been mortal injuries in the past," said Marsha Lommel, President and CEO of Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. "Unfortunately, the survival rate includes a higher incidence of traumatic brain injuries and other injuries requiring comprehensive rehabilitation. At Madonna, we are very pleased to help our military service men and women, who have given so much to our country, get back to their families, activities and work."
"Brain injury is a complex problem that can include a range of deficits in vision, balance, speech, memory, cognition, and physical mobility, as well as changes in emotional functioning," said Dr. Terryberry-Spohr. "It requires a multidisciplinary approach to rehabilitation so that each person can achieve the best possible outcome."
Mild brain injuries are often not initially recognized or treated because the symptoms are difficult to observe and diagnose, which has been a problem for many injured military personnel.
"The percussion from an explosion can lead to head injury without any overt signs of trauma," according to Dr. Eric Hartman, medical director of Madonna's brain injury program. "Often the injured person will just notice the issues most significant to them such as headaches, fatigue and poor concentration. These issues are often the consequence of other primary issues, such as vision and balance problems which can be very amendable to therapies."
A talented team of professionals who have completed special competency training in the treatment of persons with brain injury lead Madonna's brain injury program. The team, which is made up of neuropsychologists, physical, occupational, speech, recreational, and respiratory therapists, as well as a social worker, rehabilitation nurse and case manager, work together with the patient and family to meet the complex physical, cognitive, social and emotional needs of persons with brain injury.
Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital is known for its Mild Traumatic Brain Injury services -- a comprehensive two-day assessment and treatment focusing on medical, physical, cognitive and emotional aspects of mild traumatic brain injury.
Madonna's Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering provides leadership in assuring that the brain injury programs integrate state-of-the-art technology, such as the body weight support treadmill, brain mapping, Bioness functional electrical stimulation, environmental control units, and augmentative alternative communication devices, into the treatment program throughout the continuum of care.
Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital
5401 South St. • Lincoln, NE 68506
Phone: (402) 489-7102 • Toll-Free: (800) 676-5448
E-mail: info@madonna.org Return to Home
