San Francisco War Memorial Veteran's Commission celebrates annual POW Commemoration Day, 2004

Washington, DC -- Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL) joined Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi, the National Parkinson's Foundation and other officials this morning to announce the opening of six new Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Centers in the Veterans Health Administration. The Department of Veterans Affairs has committed $30 million to the centers which will be sited in Houston, Philadelphia, Portland, Richmond, San Francisco, and West Los Angeles.

Evans, a veteran and senior Democrat on the House veterans' panel, was diagnosed with the disease.

"I believe the overwhelming response VA received to this proposal from its research and clinical community reflects its need to provide hope to the 20,000 veterans they treat each year with this condition; in addition, some VA researchers estimate as many as 150,000 veterans using the VA may have the disease," said Evans.

Evans played a major role in making VA Headquarters aware of the benefit Parkinson's Centers could have in responding to the needs of veterans under its care. After learning of an internal VA proposal to expand the number of Centers, Evans wrote Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Thomas L. Garthwaite, to ask that he continue to work with the National Parkinson's Foundation in developing the Centers. Evans later conducted a site visit to VA's Center for Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Care and Research in San Francisco.

"I found hope in VA's Center for Excellence in Surgical Interventions for Parkinson's Disease at the San Francisco VA Medical Center," said Evans, "the center has witnessed dramatic improvements in some of the veterans they have treated. For example, Andrew Mercado, a San Francisco area veteran, told me he was able to resume his career as a photographer. The potential returns from this relatively modest investment are immeasurable to the veterans and their families who will benefit."

Evans returned from the visit energized to fight for the funds to expand VA's Parkinson's Centers. Speaking in front of Congressional appropriators, Evans stated, "I have recommended an additional $25 million for VA Research for FY 2001. These funds would allow the program to fund five additional centers of excellence in the treatment and research of motor-neuron diseases, such as Parkinson's Disease. This is obviously an area in which I, in addition to thousands of other veterans, have a personal interest."

Evans concluded by noting, "I am but one of the 1.5 million Americans fighting this disease. Conventional therapies offer us some relief, but are ultimately unsatisfactory. As a veteran with Parkinson's Disease, I know personally of the struggles we confront daily to live normal lives‹we endure these battles as we have endured other great conflicts."