This month, as we celebrate Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, we have another reason to say thank you.
On September 26, just three years after his passing, our former executive director Jim Peters was given one of the greatest honors the Department of Veterans Affairs could bestow on a veterans’ advocate. Through an act of Congress, the Bronx VAMC was renamed the “James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.”
The years of selfless dedication Jim gave to fostering research to develop better care of veterans with spinal cord impairments (SCIs) translated across the board to all veterans and then out the VA doors to the private sector and all persons with SCI. The renaming of the Bronx VA emphasizes how much Jim is missed by the SCI community. The medical center will perpetually serve as a reminder of how much we owe to Jim and all individuals who make a difference by refusing to take no for an answer.
The secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, senators and representatives who attended the dedication ceremony all spoke of how Jim made a difference. But the real difference he made will continue to live on in how SCI is viewed by the medical professions. Even before spinal cord medicine became an official sub-specialty-largely through Jim’s efforts-Jim was working to attract doctors, nurses, and researchers to the field. The more visibility SCI medicine received, the greater notice Washington took. Jim Peters and United Spinal Association championed this cause. This brought better care to veterans with SCI and continued to elevate the type of care available to all persons with SCI.
What I hope we never lose sight of is the importance of the legacy Jim Peters gave us. In many ways the VA has been and continues to be the proving ground for people with SCI. When SCI health care improves in a VA Hospital in New York because of Jim’s work, those improvements trickle down and are shared with SCI physicians and nurses throughout the country. This guarantees that upgraded care techniques spread out from the VA to all persons with SCI. It is these improvements that little by little make life better for all of us. The greatest honor we can give Jim is to ensure the initiatives he fostered continue to grow.
So, again, as we celebrate Veterans Day and Thanksgiving this month, we all need to reflect on the strides spinal cord medicine has made, and remember to say a special thank you for Jim Peters’ passion.
Thank you, Jim, for elevating spinal cord care awareness; and thank you to everyone in the VA and private spinal care units throughout the country.
Clair Russell Hesselton, PhD
President
