Fort Hood prepares for TBI center

FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - Fort Hood is beginning to prepare for the construction of a new treatment center which will focus on helping soldiers who have traumatic brain injuries and complex diagnoses, according to the base's medical director.

Col. Patrick Sargent, commander, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, said the opening is slated for December 2015, but the time frame is dependent on fundraising, site approval and priority.

The location for Fort Hood's SAT center has not yet been approved, but the timeline for the opening should follow closely with the opening of the new Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, also projected for 2015.

Fort Hood is one of six sites chosen to construct a National Intrepid Center of Excellence Satellite facility. The six locations will function as extensions of NICoE , at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

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The satellite facilities are expected to focus on clinical care for soldiers using state-of-the-art modalities and technologies, with enhanced capabilities, collaboration and synchronization within a military treatment facility.

Satellite centers are being established throughout the nation to provide soldiers the opportunity to receive intensive treatment while staying in close proximity to their families, which is vital to a soldier's treatment, Sargent said.

"Family involvement is key," he said. "Families have to be an integral part of the treatment, to ensure the overall success of the treatment process."

Services provided at the new satellite facility will mirror services already offered at Fort Hood, according to Sargent, but will provide those services under one roof in a centralized location where the injured will receive treatment from a multidisciplinary team of medical, behavioral health and supportive health professionals.

The center will accommodate about 1,000 soldiers each year for the multi-week intensive outpatient program.

"It works out to about 100 soldiers a month," Sargent said.