Delegate Nancy Guthrie, 30th District

This last December an important summit was held to discuss improving and accessing services for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in West Virginia. Growing numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are returning home with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury or both.

Neurological damage is manifested greatly from individual to individual but it is clear that a system that provides services both quickly and over long periods is desperately needed to return these important people back to productive lives in their communities. The foundation for this system of care once existed at the West Virginia Rehabilitation Center in Institute, which could still be renovated for this important purpose.

The organizations who participated in the December 2007 Summit included the West Virginia National Guard, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia Traumatic Brain/Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Fund Board.

As a legislator my promise is to look seriously at any strategy that is developed to improve the safety net for our Veterans and their families. We must do better to stand up and fight for the people who stood up to fight for us. The mission they have performed deserves more than just legislative chatter.