Category: VA

Battle Creek VA participated in a Veteran Stand Down at the Kent County Veterans Services location Sept. 7, 2023, providing assistance to nearly 165 Veterans in the region. The Stand Down began in times of war, where exhausted combat units requiring time to rest and recover were removed from the battlefields to a place of…

Finding your way to VA is easy when you have background in pharmacy. With your expertise, you’ll be a valued member of the patient care team with an eye on making sure patients get the medications they need. When it comes to medication and prescriptions, VA pharmacists are in charge. With your focus on Veteran…

Each October, VA’s Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program (IPVAP) observes Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) to promote awareness, prevention and intervention for Veterans, their partners and VA staff who are impacted by intimate partner violence (IPV). The campaign theme, “Building Relationship Health and Safety For Life,” serves as a national call to action, prompting the…

WWII Veteran Miriam Woolever, 101, is a parent and a grandparent who has memories and stories to tell. Her trip to Europe wasn’t filled with things she wanted to see and do. It was what she felt she needed to do. She was about to turn 20 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec.…

Preventing Veteran suicide is VA’s top clinical priority. VA is here to provide help and support for you or a loved one. Telehealth is an important part of VA’s comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. Last year, nearly 1 million Veterans used video telehealth to receive VA mental health care. And VA has developed an innovative…

What was a hobby soon became an obsession for one employee at Edward Hines Jr. VA’s Aurora Community Based Outpatient Clinic. Kris Lohmar was never in the military but became inspired by the Veterans she interacted with daily as the clinic’s contracted security guard. Wanting to give back, the former wedding photographer began offering to…

It might be a simple brushstroke to some, a fleeting touch of paint to canvas, but at Edward Hines Jr. VA, Natalie Ho perceives it as a connection, a lifeline. As a social worker in Hines’ Caregiver Support Program, she noticed a growing isolation among the program’s 600 caregivers during the pandemic and wanted to…

In golf, each player competes individually against the rest of the field. A golf scramble is a team sport where players work as one team to compete against others in the field. Battle Creek VA’s recreation therapy hosted a low-vision golf scramble followed by lunch at Custer Greens on the VA campus. Five visually impaired Veterans…

National Hispanic Heritage Month began on Sept. 15, and during this celebration, we take time to share in the history, heritage and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially our teammates and the Veterans we care for. All Veterans are unique, and we know that health care is not one-size-fits-all. By embracing diversity in our…

For nearly five hours, the Manna Student Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was the location for an annual Suicide Prevention event. Hold On To Hope brings VA, DoD and community organizations together with hundreds of Veterans, service members, families, friends and health care professionals. The focus was simple… share the complexities of suicide. “The event was…

Bay Pines VA has reached its latest achievement, surpassing 23,000 Veterans registered to VA’s Million Veteran Program (MVP). Twelve years ago, the launch of MVP began with a goal to reach one-million Veterans. More than 950-thousand Veterans have registered nationally. MVP is a national research program looking at how genes, lifestyle, military experiences and exposures…

Jesse Joseph Peña was born on Jan. 9, 1949, the son of Alvino Henry Peña and Jane Marie Peña of Davenport, Iowa. He was born in Moline, Illinois, and graduated from Assumption High School in 1967. He attended Palmer Junior College and Black Hawk College before enlisting in the Navy on June 10, 1968, in…