President Barack Obama’s recent visit to the Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital at the heart of last year’s VA scandal was scripted to mark the progress the agency says it has made to address mismanagement of the healthcare for thousands of veterans.

Reports that vets waited months for medical care at the hospital, and others, prompted a national outcry, the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, and passage of a $16.3 billion VA reform bill. Since last summer, the VA has cut wait times, hired more medical staff, and authorized 30,000 vets to seek private care.

Yet many veterans and active duty military personnel are still not receiving the timely care they need — particularly for brain and spinal cord injuries that require immediate, often complex treatment. But a new nonprofit organization— Operation Backbone — is stepping up to fill the gap, providing much needed help and hope to thousands of vets in need.

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Mike Sformo, the foundation’s executive director, said the Buffalo-based organization was formed out of necessity and partners with brain surgeons, spinal cord injury specialists, and other medical experts around the world.

“Operation backbone is an operation I started a couple years ago and our primary focus is brain and spine [injuries],” Sformo tells Newsmax TV’s America’s Forum. “And we treat active duty soldiers, families, and veterans around the world who have sustained the most critical injuries.”

He says what’s often missing in VA care is an accurate, initial diagnosis of a veterans’ underlying problems. That’s where Operation Backbone has its greatest impact — relying on a network of specialists to provide correct diagnoses, as well needed surgical procedures and rehab to vets.

“What we have found out is the diagnosis has to be done correctly the first time, and that seems to be one of the biggest issues,” he explains. “So a great example is if someone is diagnosed [with asthma] within the VA … then the entire route that the VA’s going to take will be for asthma.

“What happens is when we get ahold of them and we may find they really do have a lot of chest injuries and wounds — that they have cracked backs and crushed discs and spinal issues — so the No. 1 thing that has to be done [is] you’ve got to have the diagnosis done the first time and that’s exactly what Operation Backbone does.”

Essentially, the organization utilizes a network of medical specialists who can be consulted about a particular veteran’s condition and care — often just hours after a patient’s medical records, X-Rays, and MRI images have been provided.

“Basically the way it works is if you get hurt and you are able to be put into our pipeline in Operation Backbone, all your images, all your medical stuff is sent throughout my network and it only goes to the top brain surgeons and spine surgeons and radiologists around the world.

“It’s amazing because I have a few cases we’re working on and it’s been years and years and years for these guys to try to get help. We get ahold of their information and sometimes within six or seven hours later I’ve got 16 different types of diagnoses from brain and spine people from around the world who say ‘We can do this’ and ‘We can do that.’ “

In many ways, the rise in demand for veterans’ healthcare is being driven by huge advances that have been made in battlefield medicine over the past decade.

Many troops are surviving head and back injuries that would have killed military personnel a generation ago, military medical experts say. A decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan injured or killed more than 7,100 Americans, according to military reports. In addition, hundreds of thousands have suffered from traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

Sforma is reluctant to publicly criticize the VA for its inadequate handling of the care of all needy veterans.

“The people at the VA have their arms tied in many many ways … with bureaucracy and red tape,” he says. “And if you don’t have the expertise, you can only offer, unfortunately, what you can only offer. “

One problem: Narcotic painkillers are often the medicine of choice for ailing veterans. But they are merely Band-Aid solutions that don’t address the underlying causes of many veterans’ problems.

“A lot of it then is pushed on narcotics and it’s just a quick spiral down,” he says. “When you can’t diagnose it properly and the only thing you can offer as a caregiver or a doctor or a nurse is a ton of narcotics that just mask the pain.”

That’s where Operation Backbone comes in — to pair veterans with medical specialists can who do more than merely offer short-term pain management, and put veterans on the path toward recovery.

Sforma notes that the foundation also partners with the Buffalo Sabres NHL team to assist in post-rehabilitation for veterans who go through the program.

“When we’re done what we do is we take these guys and we actually pair them up in the arena with actual NHL players,” he says. “And the motivation …is just absolutely overwhelming and it’s a tremendous tremendous asset to have.”

For more information: Operationbackbone.org.