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VA recovery coordinators are vital, vets say

A year-old program that assigns recovery coordinators to help severely injured combat veterans and their families maneuver through the maze of military and veterans’ treatment and benefits programs is underpublicized and still has growing pains, a House subcommittee was told Tuesday.

There are 14 Federal Recovery Coordinators responsible for fewer than 300 cases of the most severely injured combat veterans who face complicated treatment and recovery plans. That is just a handful of the estimated 1,300 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have what the the Department of Veterans Affairs considers catastrophic injures.

Two veterans recovering from serious injuries received in Iraq, plus the spouse of another Iraq veteran and the mother of a soldier who received a serious brain injury while training, testified before a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee panel that the 14 Federal Recovery Coordinators hired in the last year are desperately needed to deal with a a process that is difficult to understand and constantly changing.

The oversight and investigations subcommittee, headed by Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., is concerned that the program is not fully staffed nor fully functioning, and that too few veterans and their families know that it is available.

Sarah Wade, the wife of retired Army Sgt. Ted Wade, who was severely injured in 2004 by a roadside bomb, said she needs the help of a high-level person able to cut through bureaucracy to get answers and coordinate treatment but has found mixed results with the recovery coordinator program.

When the program started, Wade said she “could not have been happier.” But the coordinator left after just four months, replaced by someone new who knew nothing about her husband or the help that he needed.

Wade said she thinks the new director of the coordinator program, Dr. Karen Guice, will improve things and has direct access to the top levels of VA because Guice reports directly to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

What is still needed, Wade said, is better coordination between Pentagon and VA leadership “to promote what is working and to continue to provide the willingness and support needed to guarantee the long-term success of this program. We have seen a string of other resources crop up over the years only to wilt or die off due to a change in focus or sponsorship.”

Guice said there are just 14 coordinators today but the number could change if demand increases. She noted that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with combat-related health issues also have other resources for help, such as the Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom care management teams in place at every VA medical center to coordinate treatment. The teams include clinical case managers, a benefits specialist and a patient advocate, she said. There also are specialty care managers for people with severe conditions, she said.

There is concern within VA that not every disabled veteran needs a dedicated red-tape cutter, and that overuse of the recovery coordinators could diminish their effectiveness.

Retired Army Capt. Mark Brogan, injured in a 2006 suicide bombing that left him with brain and spinal cord injuries and nearly severed his right arm, said he wished he and his wife, Sunny, had the help of a coordinator. “My wife and I have been through quite a lot,” he said. “Despite the efforts of well-intentioned people, and some disgruntled, disenfranchised people along the way, this has mostly been a journey of blind exploration for us.”

Because he suffered a penetrating traumatic brain injury that required the rebuilding of his skull, Brogan said his wife “carried the bulk load of my administrative needs.”

“She has been my personal recovery coordinator with no experience navigating the massive recovery bureaucracy,” Brogan said. “Coordination for my care has been a heavy burden of my wife from day one.”

Brogan said he only learned a few weeks ago about the recovery coordinator program, and hopes it is an answer to some of the problems he and his wife have faced.

Cheryl Lynch, the mother of retired Army Pfc. Christopher Lynch, said she quit her job and became a full time caregiver and coordinator after his 2000 fall during a training exercise that left him with severe traumatic brain injuries. Lynch said she is 54 years old, and concerned about who is going to coordinate the lifetime care her son will need.

“I think families are desperate,” she said. “They are looking for help and are frustrated. When no one gives you clear direction, you tend to go off in any direction.”

Retired Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Kinard, who lost both legs in a 2006 bomb attack in Iraq, said he was referred to a Federal Recovery Coordinator in January as he was being retired. “Had I known about the benefits, I would have requested one much sooner,” said Kinard, who recounted the difficulties he had in just trying to keep track of who was responsible for what kind of care.

Kinard said he often would return home with a handful of business cards of people offering help but he sometimes didn’t even know what he should be asking of whom.

Kinard said having a coordinator is vital, both for accountability — knowing who is responsible for what — and for continuity of care for someone shifting from the military to veterans health systems.

Wade said that for severe injuries, having a recovery coordinator from the start of medical treatment would be a big help, especially someone who knows how the system works.