COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two years ago, the Ohio State University created a Military Medicine Program with a mission to become the game changer for veterans dealing with debilitating combat injuries.
“I think the impetus for starting this program was born out of the fact that there is a capability that exists at Ohio State that our United States veterans need and don’t always have access to,” says program director Dr. Jason Souza, a Navy veteran himself.
To date, Dr. Souza believes roughly 50 wounded warriors have been helped with the one-of-a-kind military reconstructive care program. But he says the need is far greater than most people realize.
“For everyone we’ve helped, there are 10 others that are sitting on my shoulder that have a challenging problem that we haven’t yet been able to get on the other side of,” Souza said. “Or they’re out there and I know they’re out there and we just haven’t had the opportunity to care for them."
Souza says that is the reason that drives his passion every day to make sure wounded veterans no longer suffer in silence through pain and mental anguish. His experience at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center showed him that public interest and funding in combat casualty care ebbs and flows as conflicts rise and fall. Too often, Souza says many veterans lose hope after navigating multiple systems to find access to the care they need.
“Seventy percent of our wounded warriors experience pain or can’t do what they want to do, can’t be the employee, the father, the husband, the daughter, the wife that they want to be and that’s what then drives I think this pandemic of suicide,” he says.
“I get texts that say, ‘please help, I’m about to be a statistic’,” he adds.
Through OSU’s Military Medicine Program, wounded veterans will find a new model of care that can be tackled in two to six weeks as opposed to two years.
“What we’re trying to provide to the veteran is an easy button,” Souza says. “What we’re saying is just present us with the problem and let us do the work.”
The program is about to launch a training program to make sure military surgeons who are in the system can continue their skills at Ohio State.