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The VA/CSUDH Center for Orthotics and Prosthetics was built by the VA Long Beach Healthcare System and opened in August 2009. Congresswoman Laura Richardson and senior officials from the VA Long Beach and California State University Dominguez Hills conducted a gala opening and ribbon cutting.
History
The California State University Dominguez Hills Orthotic and Prosthetic Education Program was thrilled to move into a new, state of the art 10,200 square foot facility at the Veteran Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System in August 2009. CSUDH has been clinically and academically affiliated with the VA Long Beach Healthcare System for over 20 years. The VA Long Beach was a major medical training facility serving Southern California.
Although the CSUDH O&P Program has since moved from this VA property to our new location in Los Alamitos, we continue with our collaboration with the VA Long Beach Medical Center The VA’s generosity continues to provide CSUDH students access to state of the art medical training and the highly regarded VA Instrumented Gait Laboratory at Long Beach.
The collaboration between the VA and CSUDH addresses two distinct national issues: 1) war casualties from military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 2) individuals and their families who are living with one or more chronic-illnesses that have caused secondary health conditions affecting mobility, i.e. – stroke, limb amputations, nerve impairment, and muscle and tissue loss. Thousands of troops have been seriously wounded in action during the war in Iraq, which include many reservists who have employers awaiting their return. Many cannot return to their previous duties at work due to disabling injuries, i.e. loss of limbs. Without access to immediate and proper multi-faceted rehabilitation, it is difficult for individuals to make a speedy transition into a substantive quality of life and rehabilitation to work. Also, Over 1.2 million individuals live with limb loss/absence in the United States. Physicians perform more than 185,000 amputations each year in the United States – 507 a day. The number of amputations is expected to rise due to the complications of diabetes. (Amputee Coalition of America and the American Diabetes Association). The Prosthetic and Orthotic practitioners who are trained in the CSUDH O&P Program will directly serve veterans and the general population who require prostheses or orthoses.