Stephanie Young

Stephanie Young became the Director of the Western North Carolina VA Health Care System (WNCVAHCS) on February 18, 2018. She oversees a health care system that serves over 49,000 Veterans in a 23-county area of Western North Carolina. This includes managing 2,500 full-time employees and volunteers and an annual budget of over $750 million. The system provides critical medical services, including internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and a Community Living Center. The main facility is in Asheville, NC, named after Medal of Honor recipient Charles George from the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Three outpatient clinics are located in Franklin, Rutherford County, and Hickory, NC. The large catchment area allows for innovative care for rural Veterans.

Ms. Young holds an Associate Degree in Applied Science, a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology focusing on Network and Telecommunications, and a Master of Healthcare Administration. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is Lean Black Belt Certified. She also serves as a coach in the Health Care Leadership Development Program.

Ms. Young has over 30 years of experience serving Veterans, starting as a GS-4 medical clerk. She has held various roles with increasing responsibility, such as Chief Information Officer and Associate Director. Before her current position, she was the Medical Center Director at the VA Illiana Health Care System in Illinois. Additionally, she served as the Interim Director for the VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), managing seven medical centers with a budget of $3.3 billion and serving 390,000 Veterans. Under her leadership, WNCVAHCS received the Pathway to Excellence® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and helped several other VA Medical Centers achieve this designation. Innovation has thrived under her guidance, including key projects in Virtual Reality and many Shark Tank winners.

The Health Care System has a dual 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare Services’ Hospital Compare. It has kept a 5-star rating for its Community Living Center for four years. WNCVAHCS has been ranked among the top three Best Places to Work for the past seven years and received the VHA Best Overall Veteran Experience Award for 2024. The WNCVAHCS received the 2024 VHA #1 Organizational Health Index Award and ranked #1 for Best Place to Work in the VHA. We also won the “Best Overall Experience” award for patient and employee experiences at the 2024 VA Customer Experience (CX) Symposium.