UCLA Health Operation Mend launched in 2007 to provide free specialized health care to post-9/11 veterans injured in war. Nearly 20 years later — and almost a decade after it became a founding member of the Wounded Warrior Project’s Warrior Care Network — the organization continues to offer psychological and physical specialty care, still at no charge, to these veterans as well as to their caregivers.
Is Operation Mend unique in the services it provides?
"One of the truly extraordinary developments was that UCLA absolutely opened their arms and facilities to Operation Mend, embracing the effort of doing everything we can to help mend the physical and psychological injuries of post-9/11 warriors," said Jo Sornborger, PsyD, executive director of Operation Mend. "Today, we are still the only veteran service organization that treats the physical injuries at no cost to the warrior."
Since about four out of five veterans treated in the program come from outside California, Operation Mend finds programs and resources in their home states to provide ongoing help after their treatment at UCLA.
What are the origins of Operation Mend?
It started with the vision of Los Angeles philanthropists and UCLA alumni Ron and Maddie Katz, who wanted to provide better post-injury care to veterans who, for whatever reasons, were not receiving that care. They wanted to give back to UCLA by using their contacts and resources at the university.
Is a holistic approach to care a guiding principle?
The initial focus of Operation Mend was to provide surgeries to wounded warriors, and once Dr. Sornborger joined in 2009, she made it a point to expand the program’s “whole-person” services for patients — while also addressing issues their families were facing.
Does the program take a similar approach to caring for families?
One of the first things Dr. Sornborger noticed after her arrival, she said, was that the program was treating the veterans but not necessarily involving family members or loved ones, those who might be crucial to providing emotional support for the veteran in the present and the future.
"So we started doing behavioral health screenings, asking a broad range of questions about depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and the overall impact of the injuries on the family member as well as on the warrior," she said.
Though not a surprise to Dr. Sornborger, the screenings showed that some family members were suffering mentally as much as the wounded veteran.
"It turned out that the effects on some family members were so significant that they were meeting criteria for several mental health diagnoses," she said.
That led to an expanded effort to connect family members with mental health treatment centers in their communities, similar to the strategy for the wounded warriors themselves.
Does Operation Mend work with caregivers to help veterans?
The program helps to support caregivers with the needs of wounded warriors.
"Often the caregiver has been thrown into that role overnight, and it is very hard to be prepared for what is ahead, especially when the caregiver is experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms as well,” Dr. Sornborger said.
By including caregivers as participants in the warriors’ treatment, the warriors don't have to try to translate what they learned in a treatment program. “Instead, the caregiver receives the same skills and support as their warrior," Dr. Sornborger said.
Has the program's role changed over time?
There are fewer service members with recent injuries, Dr. Sornborger said, but many more veterans in their 40s and 50s are seeking treatment, especially for traumatic brain injuries. For these veterans, she said, mental health support is as relevant as ever.
Working with Operation Mend has given Dr. Sornborger the opportunity to focus on the mental health needs of veterans. As part of the Warrior Care Network, Operation Mend collaborates with three other academic medical centers: Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and Emory University in Atlanta.
"We always had this goal of building a very collaborative network, and that's exactly what we are,” she said. “We collaborate on best practices, not only with our direct treatment, but also with case management and the referral system. We are an extremely collaborative network of academic medical centers providing the best treatment for our post-9/11 veterans."
