Polytrauma Rehab in the Va: Compassionate Care

POLYTRAUMA REHAB IN THE VA: COMPASSIONATE CARE is an hour-long documentary that gives unprecedented access to the medical staff and their patients – veteran and active service members with both combat and civilian-related traumatic brain injury and polytrauma – at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Named in honor of Hunter Holmes McGuire, M.D., the personal physician to Confederate Major General Stonewall Jackson during the Civil War, the facility was created in the late 19th century and became the first Veteran Administration hospital to offer heart transplant surgery in the 1970s. The hospital’s polytrauma center is one of only five in the country that provides physical recovery and rehabilitation, plus services for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Each treatment is tailored around the individual patient, to make it as purposeful and beneficial as possible. In POLYTRAUMA REHAB IN THE VA, viewers are introduced to several employees of the medical center, including Dr. Ajit Pai, who was named to lead the polytrauma unit at the age of 29. He is dedicated to his patients and is known for advocating new medical techniques, while also weighing heavily the patient’s requests. His philosophy is that patients know their bodies better than anyone, so why not listen to them and involve them in the healing and rehabilitation process? In addition, the film also provides an in-depth view of what goes on within the walls of the hospital, and offers the perspective of doctors, medical staff, and family members, along with personal stories of the patients themselves. POLYTRAUMA REHAB IN THE VA: COMPASSIONATE CARE captures the bond that staff and patients form, which fosters not only physical healing, but emotional recovery.