Our Mission and Strategy
Healing Arizona Veterans uses donations to sponsor the treatment of military veterans suffering from combat related TBI and PTSD. The treatment utilizes Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and adjunctive therapies at private facilities.
May 2023 Update: As of May 2023, HAV has sponsored the full treatment of 86 veterans (average 14 per year), with a few more in the treatment process. These veterans have served in all branches of the military, and in many theaters of operations. HAV receives weekly treatment inquiries. Our goal is to ramp up the treatment from 50 to 100 over a three-year time frame. This would require cash and vehicle donations of $1 million in the first year rising to $2 million in the third year.
Realizing that the Federal Government is not currently supporting HBOT for treating Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a number of states have undertaken a grassroots effort to provide HBOT to their veterans. Nine states have already approved the use of HBOT and a further six states are evaluating doing the same. The State of Arizona passed HB2513 in March of 2018 to support this treatment, becoming the 5th state to do so. The Arizona bill was passed unanimously by The State House and Senate. The Federal Government is finally beginning to catch up to the States; former President Trump signed Senate Bill S785 into law in October 2020 which offers to pilot the treatment utilizing alternative therapies including HBOT.
Arizona’s approach is slightly different from other states. It is based on a Private-Public partnership to provide funding for treatment of veterans at privately owned facilities.
Healing Arizona Veterans (HAV), a 501c3 charity, sponsors the treatment of veterans at two private facilities; NorthStar HBOT in Tucson and HBOT of Arizona in Phoenix. These two facilities have treated an estimated 200 veterans in the past 24 years, above and beyond HAV sponsored veterans, and have the capacity to treat up to 300 veterans annually. Other providers can be added as the need grows.
The average one-time cost to fully treat a veteran is $20,000 (80 HBOT sessions plus diagnostics) as compared to the traditional cost of managing symptoms of around $15,000 annually. All HAV Board members and Senior Staff are volunteers. As such the administrative costs were 1% of donations during 2021 and 2022. HAV tracks treatment cost and clinical indicators, before and after the treatment. Some of the veterans have provided testimonials on how the treatment has changed their lives.
Veterans are evaluated for treatment based on the extent of their brain injury. They are also assessed on their exposure to burn pit and other toxins. All patients will be treated with HBOT, and where required, adjunctive therapies e.g. supplements.
Arizona moves forward with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans
4/18/2018 Governor Doug Ducey has signed off on legislation expressing support for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to treat veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The State of Arizona has allotted $25,000 as seed money as part of the Private-Public partnership to treat veterans with TBI utilizing HBOT. Read the bill here.
