LLUMC makes donation to help raise awareness of traumatic brain injuries

On March 5, Loma Linda University Medical Center Rehabilitation, Orthopaedic and Neurosciences Institute (RONI) along with the Centre for Neuro Skills made a donation of $4,000 to the California Brain Injury Association (CAL BIA) to mark the institute’s commitment to supporting the mission of education and raising awareness of brain injuries. The donation was a result of five annual brain injury conferences co-hosted by Loma Linda University Medical Center RONI and the Centre for Neuro Skills and was done during March to coincide with its designation as national Brain Injury Awareness month.

One and a half million traumatic brain injuries occur annually in the United States, more than multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, HIV/AIDS, and breast cancer combined. Twenty-two thousand traumatic and 11 thousand acquired brain injuries occur each year in California alone. Brain injury costs can be staggering, rising to $3 million per person for a traumatic brain injury and $1 million per person for a moderate brain injury. The cost of care for newly brain-injured persons nationally is $6.5 billion per year, and $13.5 billion for ongoing care of patients with existing traumatic brain injuries. Indirect annual costs have been calculated at over $33 billion, and there is very little funding for people who sustain these injuries following hospitalization.

If you would like more information on brain injury, or about how to donate funds to California Brain Injury Association, a new chapter of the National Brain Injury Association, you can access their web site at <www.calbia.org>. For more information on brain injury you can contact Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Rehabilitation, Orthopaedic and Neurosciences Institute at (909) 558-6116, or the Centre for Neuro Skills website at <Neuroskills.com>.

By Preston Clarke Smith