Hospital Offers Veterans Free TBI Screenings

Hospital Offers Veterans Free TBI Screenings
BY LISA CHEDEKEL Courant Staff Writer
11:16 AM EDT, May 2, 2008
Concerned that the most talked-about injury of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is being overlooked, the Hospital for Special Care has started offering free screenings to veterans for symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

The New Britain hospital has begun sending out thousands of mailings to veterans' groups, physicians, colleges and churches, encouraging service members who were exposed to roadside blasts or other head trauma to get screened for TBI. The hospital screenings are offered by phone or over the Internet and direct veterans who report symptoms of TBI to seek further evaluation at the West Haven veterans' hospital.

"We're not providing clinical services -- the VA's already here to do that," said Dr. John Stanwood, chief of psychological services for the hospital. "But they can't go out and advertise and do the kind of outreach we're doing. Our hope is to get every vet in the state who's at risk of TBI to access services."

The Hospital for Special Care is working with the West Haven VA to ensure that veterans referred for further evaluations will receive a prompt response from the VA's polytrauma/TBI support clinic, Stanwood said. The hospital hopes to steer veterans who are reluctant to seek treatment from the VA, or who report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder -- sometimes similar to symptoms of TBI -- to other resources, such as a state-run program that provides referrals to a network of mental-health counselors.
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