NMCP’s New Warrior Concussion Clinic to Treat Service Members with TBIs

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Kris Lindstrom | 171127-N-GN619-042 Portsmouth, Va. (Nov. 27, 2017) Capt. M. Jamie Sands, Naval Special Warfare Group TWO’s commodore, left, and Capt. Christopher Culp, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s commanding officer, cut a cake during the establishment ceremony for the Warrior Concussion Clinic at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. The Warrior Concussion Clinic brings a multidisciplinary, value-based program for evaluating and treating traumatic brain injuries to expeditionary forces with a history of concussion exposure. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R. Lindstrom/released)  

PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

11.27.2017

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kris Lindstrom 

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

Staff from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), in conjunction with leadership from the naval special warfare (NSW) community, held a ceremony on Nov. 27 to celebrate the official launch of a ground-breaking concussion treatment program delivered through the newly established Warrior Concussion Clinic (WCC).
The program was developed at NMCP and modeled after existing Military Health System programs to more efficiently and effectively diagnose and treat expeditionary forces who have a history of concussive exposure and traumatic brain injury (TBI) symptoms. NMCP worked in collaboration with the NSW community to focus on the frontline warfighters and their return to duty after expedited treatment.
“Every once in a while, you get your hands around something transformational, and I think that’s what we are part of here for sure,” said Capt. M. Jamie Sands, commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, during the ceremony. “This is a whole mind, body, spirit treatment program for our folks. We are all in on this from the naval special warfare perspective. We care about our people, and we care about their families. We don’t leave them behind.”
NMCP staff created the WCC to be a one-stop clinic focused on evaluation and treatment for concussions and more severe forms of TBIs.
“We have four patients at a time and when they come through the assessment, they will see all 12 specialties over the course of four days,” said Bethany Swogger, program manager of the WCC. “On Friday, we determine which specialists they are going to see for treatment during the next three weeks.”
“This is ground breaking because traditionally, that would take six months in a standard hospital with a referral-based system,” said Lt. Cmdr. Christofer Ecklund, clinical neuropsychologist and the head of the WCC.
The WCC takes a different approach to the injury by expanding available resources and incorporating 12 specialties into the concentrated four-week program. Some of the specialties involved are neurology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiology, clinical psychology, neuropsychology, optometry, speech language pathology, sleep medicine and otolaryngology.
The program is custom tailored to each service member with the goal of returning them to their highest functioning level.
“The focus of the program is on readiness,” said Cmdr. J. Porter Evans, clinical neuropsychologist and associate director of Mental Health. “We are looking at our deployable forces. Our concern is less on what community they belong to, but more along the lines of ‘is this somebody who is an actively deployable member, like an expeditionary force, who we can get back out there and get back in the fight?’”
The warfighters who enter into the WCC program are not typically in a medically limited duty status, but are those whose symptoms may be interfering with their ability to serve at their highest level.
“These patients are typically full duty when they get to us,” Ecklund said “We want to get them back in better shape than when they begin treatment. Their symptoms are not just neurological – there can be a lot of other medical issues such as chronic pain, headaches, sleep or balance problems. Yes, it is a concussion clinic, but that’s just one of the precursor requirements.”
Because each patient’s injury is unique, medical discoveries made during the assessment period vary from patient to patient. After the assessment, the doctors from each specialty work as a multidisciplinary team to determine each patient’s unique treatment plan.
“Their treatment depends on the findings,” Evans said. “We're focused on only treating areas where there are positive findings.”
After completing the three weeks of care based on their treatment plan, the service members return to their units, and have a place within the program for follow-on care as necessary. Those who have questions or need further treatment can contact the WCC nurse care facilitator. who will assess the situation and connect them with the designated specialty or schedule an appointment.
“They are motivated to get better, they are motivated to do it in a quick manner and return to their team members in better shape,” Ecklund added.
According to Evans, NMCP is an ideal place for such a program, due to the area being densely populated with service members who are likely to experience a concussion.
“It is a priority for the medical center to have a highly specialized program like this,” Evans said. “Through this clinic, we are able to provide a lot of these treatments locally where the service member can return home every night and have that time with their families while getting treatment.”

• Date Taken: 11.27.2017
• Date Posted: 11.29.2017 17:03
• Story ID: 256836
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US