History of Clinical Services, Medical Training, and Research for Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders in the United States Veterans Health Administration.
Jennifer E Daly, River Smith, Chao Li and 1 others
PMID 40980510WHAT IT FOUND
The Veterans Health Administration operates a national hub-and-spoke network for spinal cord injury care, serving 24,560 Veterans.
It integrates lifelong rehabilitation, specialty medical care, and emerging technologies like telehealth and brain-computer interfaces, while training a large share of US spinal cord medicine specialists.
Key findings
01The VHA SCI/D System of Care currently provides specialty medical care for 24,560 Veterans living with SCI/D.
02The system uses a hub-and-spoke model where 25 regional centers partner with 122 affiliated facilities to extend care closer to Veterans' homes.
03VHA training programs support over 120,000 health professions trainees annually, and almost half of US spinal cord injury medicine fellowships are affiliated with VHA centers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a descriptive historical account and service overview, not a clinical trial or outcome study. It does not report efficacy data for specific interventions. The population is exclusively US Veterans, who may differ in demographics, comorbidities, and service access from civilian patients. The review covers a broad time span (1811-2025), with detailed operational data focused on the current system.
Declared interests
The investigators have no financial or nonfinancial disclosures to make in relation to this project.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this paper as evidence that specific VHA interventions are more effective than other care models. It describes the structure and history of the service network, not comparative clinical outcomes.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →