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EVANS HAILS PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION PERMANENTLY
ESTABLISHING PARKINSON’S DISEASE AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CENTERS WITHIN
VA
Rock Island, IL – Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), the retiring ranking
Democratic member on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today hailed
passage of H.R. 6342, legislation that would permanently authorize and
maintain Parkinson’s disease centers and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) centers
within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“I want to thank everyone involved with moving this critical legislation
successfully through the House today. The establishment, development and
successful nurturing of these Parkinson’s disease and MS centers has
been a personal goal of mine. More importantly however, they will assist
tens of thousands of veterans as they battle these diseases,” said
Evans.
The bill would permanently authorize six VA Parkinson’s disease
Research, Education and Clinical Care Centers, as well as two Multiple
Sclerosis Centers of Excellence currently operating within the VA.
According to VA data these centers have already benefited more than
80,000 veterans across the nation and have conducted innovative research
into the diseases.
“It is my hope that the VA will continue to develop and support these
wonderful facilities,” said Evans. “They are staffed with talented and
hard working professionals, whose work and research may include key
elements that could help VA improve its delivery of care to veterans
with Traumatic Brain Injury and other chronic diseases,” continued
Evans.
The existing six Parkinson’s disease centers are based at the VA medical
centers in Houston, West Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland-Seattle,
Richmond and San Francisco. VA has two Multiple Sclerosis Centers of
Excellence, one is co-located in Seattle, Washington and Portland,
Oregon, and the other is in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, the VA has
developed a network of 47 affiliated MS regional clinics that have
provided care to nearly 8,000 veterans with multiple sclerosis.
The Paralyzed Veterans of America, Parkinson’s Action Network, National
Multiple Sclerosis Society, and American Academy of Neurology all
support this legislation.
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Larry Scott
