I have served the VA since I stepped off the USS Shasta AE-33 in April of 1989. The VA has been an everchanging and a dynamic ride, much like my initial term on the LVAAA board. I was elected as the Vice President January 2021 and became the Acting President starting February. The philosophy I hold of leadership in VA, I hold true for LVAAA; I am here to serve. I am the Deputy Associate Director for Patient Care Services at the VA in Palo Alto, CA. We are a large complex tertiary care center and have many centers of excellence, and care specialties. I hold many passions in my work, to list a few, mentoring and coaching Servant Leadership, implementing and spreading the Intermediate Care Technician (previous active duty Medics and Corpsman) role in VA, and I have a strong passion for reducing readmissions. I am very much a family man. My wife is an Associate Chief Nurse for Clinical Practice and Professional Development, my daughter just completed her RNP degree, and my son joined a startup within 3 months of graduating with his Master’s degree in business. We are a busy family, all committed to serving Veterans at every possible chance. My wife and I both come from a family of Veterans; service is our goal. I see this year as a time to rebuild the strength of LVAAA. We have a newly elected board that eagerly accepted their roles, we promise to take all of our passions in VA, in leadership and in our private lives, and create space for growth and further development of an organization that has demonstrated so much promise and has so much more to give.
LVAAA is emerging with a breath of renewed energy and excitement. As we move forward as a nation, there are so many areas we can assess and develop to improve our new roles within VA. The majority of all LVAAA members have seen changes in their roles, their teams and their communication strategies. As we emerge into a new normal, recovering from Covid, we are all looking for new and better ways to engage and lead our teams. We all have had our finger on the pulse of the nation, recognizing changes in our work environments and atmosphere. We are calling to each of you as leaders to bring forward to the LVAAA Board those issues or challenges you would like us to provide support or education about. At our membership meetings we hope to hear from many of you about how you are leading differently in the age of emerging wellness and transformational leadership. The Board is committed to driving purpose and focus, to provide you with renewed focus and strategy, and that each of us continue to grow in our own Leadership as individuals and as a professional community. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our previous Board Members and specifically, George Cannizzaro who continues to guide and mentor this new Board. In our upcoming elections, consider taking your role in LVAAA to a new level. Consider building our membership and strength so that no matter where we go in VA, there are leaders to mentor and coach, keeping our staff the strongest in any healthcare system. As your Acting President, I ask for your support and engagement as we grow and begin to help members in a stronger and more palpable way. You have a very strong LVAAA Board and I hope you get to learn more about them and all they have to offer.