To Our Military Health System Staff and Stakeholders –

One of Secretary Gates’ top priorities is high quality health care. As President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences since 2005, a retired Navy Reserve Captain and the father of a serving officer, I have a deep personal commitment to ensuring that quality health care and support is provided to our active duty force and their families, particularly our nation’s wounded, ill or injured warriors, as well as our retirees and their families.

I was asked by the senior DoD leadership to temporarily perform the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, effective March 1, while the process for appointing a permanent candidate is underway. As such, my number one priority is to ensure that this care and support meets expectations and, to do that, I have outlined the four goals on which I will focus the majority of my attention.

An upcoming Webinar will address recurrent concussion in the sports and military communities.

The Webinar, hosted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and titled “Sports, the Military and Recurrent Concussion,” will be held Thursday, March 25, from 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern time.

This entry is republished from the Army SG's blog.

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month across the land, but many in the Army -- line and medical leaders, Army trainers at our Combined Training Centers (National Training Center in Ft. Irwin, Calif., and Joint Readiness Training Center in Ft. Polk, La.), first line medics, and our deploying combat arms soldiers -- have already been receiving a unique education and training on traumatic brain injury (TBI) delivered personally by the vice chief of staff himself, Gen. Peter Chiarelli. Senior Army leaders -- especially my colleagues and superiors who are not medical professionals -- recognize that TBI is a serious concern; we have dedicated substantial effort and resources to prevent, diagnose, treat and better understand promising treatments for mild, moderate, and severe TBI.

This entry is republished from the DCoE blog.

A sudden or unexpected injury such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can instantly change the lives of an entire family. And for the caregiver, caring for an individual with TBI can be a long-term, even lifetime, commitment. There are tools out there to help you learn what to expect and how to cope.

Who are caregivers? In today’s society, a caregiver takes many identities such as a physician, counselor, parent, spouse, daughter, son, brother, sister, relative or friend. Caregivers often assume the role of advocate, case manager, benefits coordinator and even health care provider for their warrior. All of these roles may be new to you.

If you are a military member, you are at increased risk for sustaining a TBI compared to your civilian peers. Why?

• In general, young men between the ages of 18 to 24 are at the greatest risk for experiencing a TBI
• Operational and training activities can be dangerous
• Increasing deployment to areas where warriors are at risk for experiencing blast exposures

Experiencing a TBI can happen in garrison and even during activities you do for fun, such as climbing mountains, parachuting and riding your motorcycle. Here we have provided general facts about TBI that every service member, veteran and family member should know.

Some of the best snow conditions in recent memory greeted a very special group of skiers during the weekend of February 27-28 at Liberty Mountain in Southern Pennsylvania. The Fourth Annual Wounded Warriors weekend saw 15 soldiers from Ft. Belvoir, Ft. Meade, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center enjoy two days of skiing and snowboarding with their families.

Spearheaded by the National Patient Safety Foundation, Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) is a national education and awareness-building campaign for improving patient safety at the local level. This year’s theme is: Let's talk! Healthy conversations for safer health care.

As we serve 9.6 million TRICARE beneficiaries, it’s up to us, the Department of Defense (DoD) Patient Safety Program (PSP), to help keep the conversation going on the MHS side. How do we do that? Teamwork. Collaboration. Creativity. We have to continue fostering a culture of teamwork and learn more about the ways we can enhance patient safety.

Today kicks off Month of the Military Medical Professional. The Military Health System is celebrating the many different opportunities available to medical professionals in the military by highlighting a few of the specific career paths that these people have taken.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates issued a memo dated March 2, 2010, addressing the shooting at Ft. Hood and the DoD independent review conducted in its aftermath.

“As a Department, our challenge is to constantly adapt to the changing security environment that faces our nation,” Gates writes in the memo. “I ask all commanders, supervisors, non-commissioned leaders, and other personnel of the Department to reinforce the fabric of trust with one another.”

Gates also wrote that with leadership comes responsibility, and that DoD leaders are to be held accountable for the health and performance of the armed forces.

Click here to download the full memo (PDF).

What do warriors and professional football players have in common? Both are susceptible to sustaining concussions – whether in theater or on the gridiron. And both are sometimes reluctant to seek treatment for fear of being seen as weak or forced to sit out of the action to recover.

DCoE Director Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton and Marine Sgt. Josh Hopper of DCoE’s Real Warriors Campaign traveled to the Super Bowl Media Day last month to promote our newest relationship with pro football. Real Warriors has joined forces with the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) and the University of Michigan Depression Center to break the stigma among service members and NFL players in seeking treatment for concussions.