Whole Health

Whole Health at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System is empowering Veterans to become happier, healthier versions of themselves.

Enter through the front doors of the H. John Heinz III campus of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on any given day and, at face value, you might see yoga, tai chi, weightlifting, and any number of other physical activities. But what you’re really seeing, as you watch exercisers stretch and curl dumbbells and log their steps on treadmills, is Veterans getting better and growing stronger. Veterans supporting one another and reclaiming their lives. That’s because Veterans in the Whole Health program at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System are building more than just muscle five days a week — they’re building vitality, community, and the future of health care.

For Drs. Scott Herrle and Nathan Blakeley, who started in their roles in the Whole Health program nearly four years ago, the motivation goes much deeper than fitness. It is embedded in the very core of Veteran wellness.

“If you think about putting the Veteran at the center of their care and really supporting them with all these measures that will improve their health, Whole Health is the perfect setup for that,” said Herrle, the chief and clinical director of Whole Health at VA Pittsburgh. “[It has] become my professional mission, aspiration, and purpose to realize … we need to grow [Whole Health], and we need to make this available to every Veteran.”

The hustle behind the muscle

When Herrle and Blakeley first started working in Whole Health in September of 2021, they did so without any dedicated employees. And with no designated areas for exercises in those early days, they used hallways and borrowed spaces. However, their vision was clear: Expanding on the existing Gerofit exercise program — and adding “VetFit” for Veterans under 65 — Herrle and Blakeley chose to make physical activity a cornerstone of their approach.

“We decided to make exercise … a key focus of our Whole Health program,” Herrle said of the strategy that would become popular among Veterans in a way that even he and Blakeley couldn’t have envisioned. “I literally have a patient … [who] walks up to me every day and tells me how these programs have helped them.”

One of those patients is Tim Mahon, an Army Veteran who struggled with weight gain, diabetes, and severely reduced mobility. “I could walk from the bed to the couch and had to take a nap,” he recalled of his condition when he was first referred to Whole Health. Back then, it was a challenge for Mahon to get out of his chair and lift one-pound dumbbells. “They were PINK!” he exclaimed.

Another patient, Air Force Veteran Ray Cvetic, suffered from heart disease, a sleep disorder, multiple back conditions, and a stroke complicated by several bouts of COVID-19. On a recent trip to Scotland with his wife, Cvetic could barely walk.

Both Veterans enrolled in group classes, participating in offerings such as yoga, tai chi, weightlifting, and balance exercises. In the span of a year and a half, Mahon is curling 40-pound dumbbells. A diehard Steelers fan, he promises to someday climb the steps of Acrisure Stadium — that is if his hometown team holds up its end of the bargain by making the playoffs.

As for Cvetic, he credits Whole Health with enabling him to cut back on his medications. These days, he is also walking without the use of a cane and plans to go hiking with his wife in Iceland later this year. “I can lay on the floor facedown right now, and I can get myself up. That’s what they did for me.”

Two men walking on a treadmill

Holistic health care for the whole person

Mahon and Cvetic aren’t the only Veterans who have taken advantage of Whole Health at VA Pittsburgh. The fitness program has seen group exercise encounters skyrocket from 12 in fiscal year (FY) 2022 to an expected 14,000-plus in FY2025. And the outcomes are just as staggering: In the first year of their newly established Whole Health weight management clinic, 96% of the Veterans enrolled lost an average of 19 pounds — 8% of their body weight.

“We’ve seen extremely successful results,” said Blakeley, a physical therapist. “When you’re combining all these things … you’re providing [Veterans] all the tools in the toolbox, not just giving them a pill and then sending them on their way.”

He and Herrle are now joined by six board-certified exercise physiologists, a yoga instructor, two board-medicine obesity medicine doctors, a clinical pharmacist, a clinical psychologist, a health coach, several massage therapists, a registered nurse trained to provide Reiki and battlefield acupuncture, and dietitians with the MOVE! Program and Healthy Teaching Kitchen.

“They all make us feel welcome,” Mahon said. “You’re not really in the military [anymore], but you’ve got a team again. That’s what helps.”

Putting the “unity” in community: one Veteran, one team

Veterans like Mahon and Cvetic attribute their remarkable progress to Herrle, Blakeley, and the rest of the clinical support system at VA Pittsburgh. But there’s another key component they hold in perhaps an even higher regard: their admiration for each other.

“Whole Health is Veterans helping Veterans,” Mahon said. “If you’re going through something, no matter what it may be, whatever ailment you have, whatever problem you may have, someone in that classroom’s been through it and can help you.”

Cvetic agrees. “What I feel when I come here … I feel the warmth of the staff, I feel the camaraderie with the Vets. We don’t want operations, we don’t want money. We want dignity and health, and that’s what Whole Health has given me.”

To learn more about how you can enhance Whole Health for Veterans at your facility, check out VA’s professional resources.