BHI Joins Initiative to Support Ukranian Service Members, Families and Medical Professionals
BHI Joins Initiative to Support Ukranian Service Members, Families and Medical Professionals
Home Base and Global Response Medicine Launch “Invisible Wounds of Ukraine” Initiative to Support Ukrainian Service Members, Veterans, Families and Medical Professionals
Home Base, a national non-profit founded by the Red Sox and Massachusetts General Hospital, recently returned from a vital visit to Ukraine in March. The trip was part of a pioneering collaboration with the U.S. Veteran-founded non-profit, Global Response Medicine (GRM), to support the rehabilitation and resilience of Ukraine’s Service Members, Veterans and their Families. This visit marked a critical step in the joint “Invisible Wounds of Ukraine” initiative, expanding clinical care models and training for Ukrainian medical professionals as they navigate an unprecedented demand for treating wounds of war.
During the visit, Home Base and GRM representatives met with officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Parliament to better understand Ukraine’s evolving medical challenges and the innovative solutions being implemented. They also explored how Home Base’s more than 15 years of expertise in gold-standard mental health and brain injury care for U.S. Troops and their Families could support these efforts. Discussions focused on equipping Ukrainian medical personnel with advanced techniques in trauma recovery, stress resilience, and reintegration support.
At the heart of this initiative is an exchange of expertise between Home Base, Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham specialists, alongside their Ukrainian counterparts. By working together, they aim to ensure that new approaches to mental and brain health care are effectively implemented and tailored to Ukraine’s specific needs.
Among those leading these efforts were senior leaders from Home Base, GRM, Harvard Medical School, Mass General Brigham psychiatry and physiatry experts and the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH. Home Base specialists, who focus on treating the invisible wounds of war, spent the week engaging with Ukrainian physicians, visiting medical facilities and assessing the mental, neurological and physical rehabilitation needs of wounded Service Members.
This initiative is designed not only to provide immediate support but also to develop long-term solutions for Ukraine’s Service Members, Veterans and their Families. Key areas of focus include enhancing resilience strategies for frontline personnel using trainings developed at the Benson-Henry Institute in collaboration with Home Base, developing interventions for emerging threats such as drone warfare and establishing sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration models to support the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian Service Members and Veterans transitioning back to civilian life.
Phase Two of the initiative will begin at the end of April when Home Base welcomes their eight Ukrainian mental health counterparts to Boston for an immersive fellowship at Home Base, MGB Psychiatry, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. Ukrainian medical professionals will train alongside Home Base, MGH and Harvard Medical faculty to adapt and implement a Veteran and family mental health care model tailored to Ukraine’s needs. Home Base’s experience supporting more than 45,000 U.S. Veterans and Service Members since 2009 at its Center of Excellence in Charlestown, Massachusetts, will serve as a foundation for developing similar centers in Ukraine.
Additionally, Home Base will introduce its “Resilient Warrior Performance Program”, equipping Ukrainian frontline personnel with practical tools to enhance resilience and performance under combat conditions. A structured fellowship program will also be explored, allowing Ukrainian physicians to train at Home Base and Mass General Brigham, laying the groundwork for long-term mental health support for Ukraine’s Service Members, Veterans and their Families.
“In the conditions of a full-scale war, Ukraine is facing unprecedented challenges in the field of medical care for military personnel, veterans and their families,” said Lilia Boyko, Director of the Department of Health of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. “Protecting the country is not only about fighting on the front lines, but also supporting those who return from war with injuries that are not always visible from the outside. The so-called “invisible wounds” of war require special attention – psychological and traumatic brain injuries, which affect the health of our defenders and their reintegration into the society.
Cooperation with Home Base and Global Response Medicine is an important step towards creating a support system that will help our defenders even after the war ends. International experience, adapted to Ukrainian realities, will allow us to introduce new approaches to the treatment of combat stress, traumatic brain injuries and other consequences of war.
We are grateful to our partners for their support and willingness to share knowledge. This will not only help improve the treatment of Ukrainian military personnel, but will also contribute to the formation of a sustainable medical care system that will work for the future. War leaves deep traces in the minds of everyone who experiences it, and we must do everything possible to ensure that our defenders receive high-quality and timely assistance.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is ready to fully facilitate the implementation of this initiative and ensure its effective integration into our medical system. We believe that thanks to this cooperation we will be able to provide our military not only with proper medical care, but also a chance for a full life after the war.”
“Since GRM entered Ukraine just eight days after the Russian invasion began in 2022, we’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating toll this war has taken on both body and mind,” said Andrea Leiner, Deputy Director of Global Response Medicine. “For the past three years, we have focused on acute trauma medicine through direct care and professional exchange programs while closely tracking the growing impact of brain injuries and combat stress on Ukraine’s soldiers and Veterans. When the Ukrainian government asked us to expand into invisible wounds, we immediately turned to our friends at Home Base, knowing they are the best in the field.
By bringing together Ukrainian mental health leaders—who are treating unprecedented patient volumes and injury patterns—with American experts who have decades of experience caring for combat Veterans, we are fostering a critical knowledge exchange. This collaboration not only supports Ukraine’s service members and their families but also drives advancements in medical care, which will extend to US service members as well.”
“As Americans who have confronted the complex challenges of the Global War on Terror, we have a profound responsibility to share our hard-learned lessons with our allies and friends in Ukraine,” said Krystal Garvin, Executive Director of Global Response Medicine. “The invisible wounds of war do not discriminate by nationality, and the expertise developed through treating our own Veterans must now be passed on to support Ukraine’s healthcare system. It is both an honor and a privilege to stand side by side with the Ukrainian people as they face an unprecedented mental health crisis that will affect their current 1.2 million Veterans and potentially 5 million more in the coming years. This collaboration represents our enduring commitment to ensuring no warrior, regardless of the flag they serve under, is left to face these challenges alone.”
“We are deeply grateful to Ukraine, its leadership, dedicated medical staff and its incredibly proud and resilient people for hosting us and for GRM’s continued dedication to implementing projects that are critical to Ukraine’s medical and military communities,” said Michael Allard, Chief Operating Officer of Home Base who was among the Home Base leadership who made the trip to Ukraine. “Immersing ourselves into this proud country’s fight to protect and heal its people was a humbling honor that comes with great responsibility. In addition to Ukrainian Soldiers on the front line, every man, woman and child across the country faces daily missile and drone attacks. Tens of thousands are injured and the need to treat, heal and recover is unprecedented. We look forward to sharing Home Base’s innovative and effective care models with our Ukrainian medical leader teams to provide world-class treatment and rehabilitation for their wounded warriors.”
Dr. Ron Hirschberg, Medical Director, Brain Health Program at Home Base, emphasized the importance of being on the ground as a provider, stating, “Being here in Ukraine, side by side with those who have given so much for their country, has been incredibly humbling. As providers, we have the responsibility to listen and learn from their experience in order to best support these brave individuals as they navigate the physical and emotional toll of war. This experience reinforces the urgent need for comprehensive mental health care and reintegration programs, and I am honored to be part of this mission.”
“It is an honor to support this work alongside Global Response Medicine in Ukraine, Retired Brig. Gen. Jack Hammond, Executive Director of Home Base, said. “Their unwavering commitment to providing critical care in some of the most challenging environments is truly inspiring. By working together, we can share expertise, develop essential training programs, and ultimately improve the lives of those who have sacrificed so much.”
“We are proud to integrate the Benson-Henry Institute’s proven mind-body medicine techniques into this vital program supporting Ukraine,” said Greg Fricchione, Director of the Benson-Henry Institute. “Through our collaboration with Home Base and GRM, we can share expertise, develop essential training programs, and, most importantly, bring this care to Ukraine’s Soldiers and their Families as well as caregivers who need it most.”
About Home Base
Home Base is a national non-profit founded by the Boston Red Sox and Mass General Hospital. Home Base is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war for Veterans, active-duty Service Members, Military-Connected Families and Families of the Fallen. Home Base leverages the incredible medical resources of the Mass General Brigham, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and the greater Harvard Medical School, to create innovative models of care. Since inception, Home Base has provided clinical care and support to more than 45,000 U.S. Veterans, Service Members and Families across the nation – all at no cost to them. For more information visit homebase.org. As Home Base’s impact has grown, allied nations have increasingly turned to Home Base to learn about its innovative approach to providing healing and hope.
About Global Response Medicine (GRM):
Global Response Medicine (GRM) is a U.S. Veteran-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that delivers emergency medical care and advanced clinical training to populations impacted by conflict and disaster. Founded in 2017, GRM operates in high-risk, low-resource environments, integrating principles from military, academic, and prehospital medicine to further evidence-based response. With missions in 10 countries and more than 150,000 people served, GRM has a proven track record of effective deployments in Ukraine, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Mexico, and beyond. GRM goes where others won’t to do what others can’t. Our mission is simple, Save Lives. Period. For more information, visit www.global-response.org.
About Benson-Henry Institute (BHI):
The mission of BHI is to fully integrate mind body medicine into mainstream healthcare at the Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as throughout the country and the world, by means of rigorous, evidence-based research and clinical application of this work.
