January 7, 2009
General Eric Shinseki
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear General Shinseki,
On behalf of the leading consumer organization representing people affected by limb loss in the United States, we would like to congratulate you on your nomination as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department. Your record, experience and leadership will certainly be assets to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The ACA is proud of our work to support servicemembers and veterans dealing with limb loss. Since 2003 we have worked with the Department of Defense to provide resources and support for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) servicemembers with limb loss. We published "Military in-Step" a resource guide for new amputees and their families and certified more than 140 amputee peer visitors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Naval Medical Center-San Diego, and Brooke Army Medical Center.
In 2009, the Amputee Coalition of America will be working with the 22 centers in the Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) to begin incorporating our model peer visitation program for people with limb loss into each of those facilities. This will be achieved by certifying one trainer from each VISN center who will subsequently conduct peer visitor seminars at his/her facility.
In another limited project, based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we will be studying the effects of peer visitation on caregivers of veterans with polytrauma. This project grew out of a 2007 Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) RRP grant which allowed us to modify our amputee peer visitor training materials for veterans with polytrauma and their caregivers.
The ACA would welcome the opportunity to work with you to address the challenges faced by veterans with limb loss, as well as the overall issues within the provision of rehabilitative care. We wish you all the best as you prepare to take on this very important role.
Sincerely,
Kendra Calhoun
CEO