Category: VA

Birmingham VA’s Veterans Response Team proudly celebrated the graduation of its third Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) class in July. This significant milestone marks the successful completion of training for 24 dedicated members, bringing the total number of graduates to 64 since the program’s inception. The week-long program is a collaborative initiative designed to…

Have you noticed advertisements from companies offering to help with the VA claims and appeals process? Do their services seem too good to be true, leaving you wondering whether to trust them? If so, you are not alone.   More Veterans are getting VA health care and benefits than ever before, which also presents opportunities for…

To learn what you need to know when you start the VA application process, we asked members of our physician-provider recruiter (PPR) team, who work in our Veterans Integrated Services Networks (VISNs) around the country, to share advice and insight about what it means to work at VA.   What did they have to say?  Jeffrey…

The Tomah VA Biomedical Engineering team was recently awarded the National HeRO Award, the highest level of High Reliability Organization recognition available within VA. Ethan Urban Jeff Wills, Jason Ray (pictured above) and Ethan Urban were selected as winners in the Non-Clinical Team. While completing the annual preventative maintenance, the team identified issues with the…

In 2023, the most commonly recognized service-connected disability for Veterans was tinnitus, and the second common was hearing loss. Almost 3,000,000 Veterans had tinnitus and 1,500,000 suffered from hearing loss.  When Army Vietnam Veteran Richard John Tiley’s wife passed away in 2022 from cancer, he found himself dedicating much of his time to bringing Veterans to the…

Are you a Veteran diagnosed with cancer? There is a service that can help Veterans search for cancer clinical trials. Cancer clinical trials are important research studies that rely on people volunteering to take part in them. Clinical trials help doctors learn about ways to find, prevent and treat cancer. They also help doctors learn…

Air Force Veteran Annette Negron became worried when a persistent pain developed in her right side. What first felt like sore muscles or like her appendix might have burst, turned out to be a mass between her liver and kidney. A biopsy revealed that Negron had spindle cell sarcoma, a rare form of bone and…

Editor’s note: The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products and services on the part of VA. Veterans should verify the information with the organization offering. For transitioning service members, Veterans and military spouses, the shift to civilian employment can be daunting. That’s where FourBlock can help. FourBlock’s instructors, coaches,…

With the arrival of August, it’s also National Eye Exam Month, which is a great time for people of all ages to schedule routine eye exams. It’s also a great time to recognize the pivotal role optometrists play in preserving optimal vision for our Veterans. “I feel like when a lot of people think ‘optometrist,’…

One thing I’ve learned about the future is that I’m terrible at predicting it. I can’t count the number of times I’ve confidently said what would happen—to me personally, to my friends and family, in the country, in the world—and been completely wrong. Similarly, could you have predicted 20 (or more) years ago where you…

More than 1,000 Veterans lined up in the pouring rain to restock their pantries and receive much needed food and assistance at a special event at the Michael E. DeBakey VA.  Houston VA teamed up with Combined Arms and the Houston Food Bank to host Operation Restock, an event aimed specifically at helping Veterans and…

“For the first time, I forgot about my pain and smiled,” said Army Veteran and VA employee Gary Ruc when recalling his first virtual reality (VR) experience. Ruc took the stage for a deeply inspiring testimonial during the 2024 VA Immersive Summit, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. Gary Ruc Ruc (pictured above) deployed…