Pitt Group Helps Vets With Facial Injuries

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine have picked up $1.6 million to perfect a fat grafting technique that the team hopes will help wounded soldiers return to a more normal life. Associate professor of surgery J. Peter Rubin is the head of the team awarded the Department of Defense grant. The doctors will use new regenerative tissue technologies and new medical instruments to transfer fat from one part of the patient’s body to his or her face. Rubin says, “As many as 26 percent of wounded soldiers suffer some kind of facial injury, which can have a huge impact on quality of life. While we can reconstruct bony structures very well, it is the surrounding soft tissues that give people a recognizable face. This project will investigate how soft tissue grafting can more precisely restore facial form and improve the lives of our wounded soldiers.” Rubin says the wounds received in combat are often very destructive involving shrapnel and burns. Rubin says the underlying tissue is often very scared and the work is done in “tight spots.” That leads to the need for new techniques and interments. About 20 patients will be treated in Pittsburgh under this grant. Doctors at military hospitals will then be taught the techniques and eventually offer the reconstructive work to more veterans. The first surgeries will be performed in January. The team of doctors doing the work includes a psychiatrist to help the patients with the transition and measure the impact the injuries and the new surgeries have on returning vets.

PennDOT Releases Veterans License Plates

Pennsylvania veterans can now get a special license plate denoting their military branch and veteran status. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is offering these plates for a $20 fee. They display the seal of the veteran’s branch of service on a blue background. Interested persons should visit the PennDOT website to download an order form.

Problem Solving Courts Approved by PA Senate

With a unanimous vote the PA Senate approved legislation that would statutorily authorize the implementation of problem solving courts in the Commonwealth. Problem solving courts include, among other options, mental health courts and drug courts. The goal is to divert non-violent offenders from jail cells and into supervision programs. The courts are intended to encourage rehabilitation and lower corrections costs. State Senator Jane Orie of McCandless says, "As a former prosecutor and a strong advocate for improving our drug rehabilitation and mental health systems, I believe this legislation is crucial to helping those in need and to improving public safety." "These courts will reduce prison overcrowding and improve cooperation between our criminal justice system and drug and alcohol and mental health systems," says Orie. Allegheny County recently established a veterans' court and has been praised for its success. The law would not force counties to create the special courts but the measure makes it easier to get funding if a county should be interested. According to Sen. Orie, the average cost of building a new prison in Pennsylvania is $200 million and the cost of housing a prisoner can run as much as $30,000 a year. She says approximately 20% of Pennsylvania’s prison population suffers from mental illness. Orie says, “In many cases, we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to incarcerate mentally ill patients or those with addictions who would benefit far more from treatment, medication and counseling.”

"Remembrance Park" Plans Unveiled

Parades and events are being held in communities throughout southwestern Pennsylvania today, Memorial Day, to honor the service and sacrifice of military personnel.
The 72nd Memorial Service was held at noon at the Soldiers' Memorial in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Prior to that, the annual parade was held in the Lawrenceville section of the city with marchers making their way to the cemetery.

Events are being held throughout the day at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial and Museum in Pittsburgh. Plans were unveiled today for the building of "Remembrance Park," on the existing front lawn. Designer Michael Cherock says the park will consist of 3sections including a re-worked lawn that will feature a circular path with 6 stations: one for each branch of the service. After walking along the circular path, visitors would come to the Honor Garden, which will display artifacts and be centered around a statue honoring those who have died in the war on terror. After the garden, there would be a plaza that is much larger than the current one and be more accessible...especially for those in wheelchairs.
Museum Executive Vice President John McCabe says the original estimated cost was about $1 million but it's more likely to cost $4 to 5 million. McCabe says there is no timetable but he expects the project to take 4 to 5 years to complete.

New Commissary for SW PA

The Department of Defense has given final approval for a new commissary in the Pittsburgh region. It will be built near Pittsburgh International Airport and replace the Charles E. Kelley Support Facility which was included in the last round of base closures and realignments. Congressman Tim Murphy from the South Hills was pleased by the final approval...."This is great news for the hundreds of thousands of military members and their families, who will now continue to have the services that were guaranteed to them."
Without the new facility, the nearest commissary for the veterans and their families would be a 4 hour drive. Congressman Mike Doyle of Swissvale called the decision "a major victory."
12.2 million in federal funding has been secured to build the new commissary and post exchange which will serve 168,000 eligible veterans and active military from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. The Kelley facility will remain open until the new commissary is built.

Veterans' Court

In an effort to improve prison efficiency and give veterans more personalized attention, a state representative is asking for more funding for veterans' courts. Representative Don Walko of Allegheny County says having a court geared for veterans makes sense because their challenges will be better understood. Unlike a problem-solving court that primarily deals with mental illness and drug addiction, the veterans' court will have people who are knowledgable in ways to treat veterans.

Walko says funding for this cause from the Commonwealth, even in these tough economic times, would remedy several problems of the court and prison systems. Allegheny County officials plan to have a veterans' court up and running by June.