PADRECCS/Consortium

In 2001, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) set upon its mission to revolutionize services for the approximated 80,000 veterans living with Parkinson’s disease.  The VA created six regional Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (PADRECCs), which provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art care to veterans with Parkinson’s disease. The six PADRECCs are located in Houston, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle jointly, Richmond, San Francisco, and West Los Angeles.

These Centers offer veterans access to the full spectrum of standard-of-care treatments, including modern medications, rehabilitation therapies, botulinum toxin injections, and deep brain stimulation (DBS). In addition to providing top-notch clinical care, the PADRECCs focus on conducting basic and clinical research in areas such as DBS, drug therapies, depression and other psychiatric problems, and non-motor fluctuations. 

The PADRECCs are experienced, efficient and cost-effective centers for the providing of DBS for those patients nationwide deemed to be candidates for this treatment. The Centers have substantial expertise in patient evaluation, surgical implantation and post-operative management.

The PADRECCs also administer national outreach and education programs. The Centers have established vehicles for communication of Parkinson’s disease-related healthcare information with VA clinicians and veteran patients, including newsletters, websites, and educational seminars. 

Visit the PADRECCs homepage to learn more about the PADRECC in your region. 

The PADRECCs created and continue to oversee the development of the National VA Parkinson’s Disease Consortium, an initiative designed to complement the PADRECCs in their mission to serve veterans diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nationwide. This initiative serves as a mechanism to network and train nationally dispersed VA clinicians who possess expertise or interest in Parkinson’s disease and related fields, including movement disorder specialists, neurologists, geriatricians, primary care providers, and multidisciplinary clinicians. Together, exemplary care is provided either on-site at one of the six PADRECCs or remotely through telemedicine consultations with coordinated care at satellite clinics and Consortium centers. 

Visit the National VA Parkinson’s Disease Consortium Web site to learn more.

Advocacy Saved the PADRECCs

The PADRECCs were originally created by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2001.  In 2006, Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) received word that the VA was contemplating the closure of all six PADRECCs.  Rep. Lane Evans, the then Co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Parkinson’s Disease, and Senate VA Committee Ranking Member Daniel Akaka sponsored legislation to formally authorize the PADRECCs, which would prevent their closure.

Throughout the 109th Congress, PAN advocates worked tirelessly to garner support for legislation to ensure the continued existence of the PADRECCs.  At the end of the legislative calendar, H.R. 6342 was passed by both the House and Senate, and on December 21, 2006 the bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

The passage of the Veterans Programs Extension Act of 2006 was thanks to overwhelming Congressional support for the PADRECCs, the dedicated work of PAN advocates, and the efforts of PAN’s informal coalition with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).