Category: VA

A career in primary care offers a lot, and when you choose a career caring for Veterans at VA, you’re taking part in a mission that matters, a mission of service unlike any other in health care. There’s no greater calling for physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and more than working directly with Veterans and…

For many Veterans, military service was a life-changing time that provided the kinds of experiences that few in the civilian world can possibly understand. One of the most enduring aspects of serving is the strength of relationships formed with those who shared those same experiences, often under dangerous and challenging conditions. Re-establishing those bonds by…

VA’s national cemeteries will host a National Day of Service on September 11 to honor our nation’s service members, police officers, fire fighters and first responders on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This day of service will take place at more than 60 national VA cemeteries and include opportunities for volunteers to clean…

When was the last time you checked in with yourself and your body to see how you were feeling physically and emotionally? We are often so busy that we really aren’t even aware of what is happening in our own body and mind. Luckily there are many different short practices and tools we can use…

Veterans and service members experience PTSD at higher rates than the general population. But many Veterans are unaware of the resources available to them. Or they’re hesitant to seek treatment. VA provides mental health services for PTSD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and more. VA’s TeleMental Health program remotely connects Veterans with a VA mental health…

Thomas Mantell, Jr. was killed in a stateside crash while piloting a P-51 Mustang for the Kentucky Air National Guard near Franklin, Kentucky on Jan. 7, 1948. The events surrounding the crash remain unclear. At the time, Mantell was said to be in pursuit of an unidentified flying object. Accounts of the incident varied, with…

The Waco VA Regional Office partnered with North Texas VA in Garland, Texas, for a PACT Act Summer VetFest. The event offered toxic exposure screenings (TES), face-to-face appointments with VBA compensation specialists, battlefield acupuncture, CPR training and whole health education. The 8-hour event, attended by 750 North Texas Veterans, family members and caregivers, screened 280…

Women Veterans in eastern Oklahoma can now receive mammography screenings at VA thanks to the first VA mammography unit to open in Oklahoma. Mammography is an X-ray exam of breast tissue and the best breast cancer screening tool available. The new unit produces state-of-the-art images called mammograms, which help diagnose breast cancer as well as…

Jacob Schwartz began his Alaska VA youth volunteer journey over eight years ago. It was his father, nurse Mark Schwartz, a 30-year Alaska VA employee, who told him about the many ways he could volunteer. Over the course of those eight years, he accumulated over 800 volunteer hours and a few accolades. In 2018, the…

In describing the diversity of our facilities in Puerto Rico, Jorge Santiago, a Whole Health coach at the San Juan VA Medical Center, explained, “We have a Latino community, we have a Black community that work here, [and] we have a community of age 50-plus workers that need to feel their rights are being considered.”…

Henry Lamar Hunt was born on Dec. 13, 1932, in Lakeland, Florida, and was a graduate of Kathleen High School. He felt the call to minster and attended Southeastern Bible College during the Korean War. He later admitted, “I felt a little bad that my buddies went off to war and I went to school,”…

Just as an illness can stubbornly resurface, threatening to undo the progress made with one’s health, too many Veterans face a similarly harrowing recurrence: the return to homelessness. These Veterans now find themselves fighting a different battle on the very streets they once fought to protect. On July’s episode of the Ending Veteran Homelessness podcast…