The U.S. Army Medical Command awarded General Dynamics' (GD 1.73%) Information Technology division a $138 million contract to provide clinical site support services to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, or DVBIC, locations, General Dynamics announced Tuesday.
General Dynamics will conduct epidemiological studies, and provide traumatic brain injury specialists, health care providers, and care coordinators to serve at 15 U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs medical treatment facilities located throughout the United States. The company says it plans to hire 185 employees to serve at these locations as part of its contract.
DVBIC operates locations at several Veterans Affairs Hospitals, in Boston, Minneapolis, Palo Alto, Tampa, and Richmond, Virginia. It also operates locations at military bases in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, and at the U.S. Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany as well. DVBIC is the primary traumatic brain injury component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. DVBIC is responsible not only for active duty servicemen and women, veterans, and dependents, but also conducts research and education initiatives related to brain injuries.
Public advocacy group Pro Publica has reported that as far back as 2010, as many as 115,000 veterans had suffered some form of traumatic brain injury through their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, in particular, as a result of attacks by improvised explosive devices.
