Va secretary doug collins praises tvhs staff, leaders | va tennessee valley health care | veterans affairs

In his first 40 days as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Douglas “Doug” Collins visited the Nashville VA Medical Center March 17 to witness the world-class care Veterans receive at VA

Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS). During his visit, he engaged with local leaders, recognized frontline staff, and spoke with Veterans about their experiences at TVHS. “I want you

to know I’m proud of you. Keep working hard at it,” Secretary Collins said to nursing staff on the 2G medical-surgical inpatient care unit. “I’m a Veteran myself. I’m a pastor, and I spent a

lot of times in hospitals, so look, I love you guys. Take care of my Veterans, okay.” Secretary Collins spoke with several elected officials and key leaders such as Gov. Bill Lee (TN), Sen.

Marsha Blackburn (TN), Reps. Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) and Tim Burchett (TN-02), Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Commander Col. Samuel Preston, Commissioner Tommy Baker from Tennessee

Department of Veteran Services, as well as the TVHS Executive Leadership Team.  Also in attendance was VA Chief of Staff Chris Syrek, VISN 9 Network Director Greg Goins, VISN 9 Deputy

Network Director Brandon Weiss, and VISN 9 Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anthony Stazzone.  “This is a big deal to have the secretary here along with the vast number of other elected officials

and key partners,” TVHS Executive Director Daniel Dücker said. “TVHS is seeing a huge increase in growth, and 93% of Veterans trust us for their care. There’s no better place to be right now

than TVHS.”   Secretary Collins toured VA’s first and only stem cell transplant program operated in-house.  Veterans from across the nation are referred to the TVHS Stem Cell Transplant

Program to receive advanced biotherapies like CAR-T cell treatment and world-class oncology care. While a select few VA sites offer stem cell services, TVHS is unique in that it performs all

three aspects of stem cell transplant completely in-house: apheresis, processing, and infusion. “What blows me away about this place [TVHS] is the utter cost-effectiveness,” Army Veteran

Jock Scarsborough said to Secretary Collins. “I’ve had private sector care, but nothing is as efficient as this. This is the best care I’ve received.”  Scarsborough lives outside of

Tennessee and has been traveling to TVHS to receive his care. He is on his second infusion treatment with two more to go. Each treatment takes him 90 days to ensure he receives the adequate

amount of chemotherapy and stem cell infusion.  Toward the end of Secretary Collins’ visit, he thanked and awarded five TVHS team members for their exceptional contribution to Veteran health

care, TVHS operations, and VA’s mission. Taneka Crawford, Andrew Murphy, Karley Herman, Lauren Feder and Carolyn K. Smith were recognized for their individual efforts to improve patient

care, safety, efficiency, and implement cost-savings in patient care at TVHS.  “Fourteen years, I have been with Tennessee Valley,” Smith said. “I started as an intern. It is nice to be

recognized. I work hard.”