HEALTH CARE

Private Sector Pitches In - Whats Up: Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and the University of Calif. at Los Angeles have a new program to treat troops injured in combat. In " Operation Mend," UCLA Medical Center staff treat service members and house them at the campus Tiverton House.

Whats Next: Operation Mends first patient, Marine Cpl. Aaron Mankin, will go through a series of facial reconstruction surgeries at UCLA before returning to continue treatment for the burns that cover 25percent of his body. Mankin was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq two years ago. Costs not covered by the UCLA end of the project have been taken care of by the Katz Family Foundation, including lodging for patients and family members at UCLA. Program directors hope Operation Mend will serve as an example for other partnerships between military hospitals and public institutions.