LGBTQ+ information
Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital seeks to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of all Veterans and their families. We are committed to making sensitive and high-quality health care accessible. Our employees are prepared to provide personalized, patient-centered care in a welcoming environment.
Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital seeks to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of all Veterans and their families. We are committed to making sensitive and high-quality health care accessible. Our employees are prepared to provide personalized, patient-centered care in a safe, affirming, and welcoming environment.
All Veterans are welcome here.
Truman VA provides services to ensure high-quality, patient-centered care for all Veterans. The services we provide are delivered in safe, supportive, and respectful environments throughout the hospital and our community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs).
Truman VA health care providers and other employees are committed to serving all Veteran patients and their families.
Policies - Patients & Families
- Our Patient Non-Discrimination Policy specifically prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity (actual and perceived).
- Truman VA's Visitation Policy allows for a family member, friend, or other individual to be present with the patient for emotional support during the course of their stay.
- Click here to learn about Advance Directives: As a patient, you may designate any person as a decision-maker for care should you become unable to make these decisions yourself. Advanced Directive agents are chosen by the Veteran and do not need to be biologically related. Please inform staff if you desire to create an Advance Directive.
- Documentation in medical records: Truman VA maintains the confidentiality of patient and all other private health information.
- Definition of Family: Truman VA defines “family” as any person(s) who plays a significant role in an individual’s life. This may include individual(s) not legally related to the individual. Members of “family” may include not only spouses, but also domestic partners.
Upgrading discharge characterizations
The discharge characterization for Veterans discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) or previous policy should accurately reflect the character of their service. This is not always the case.
Service members who were discharged under DADT generally received an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge based on their service records. However, a service member discharged for a “Homosexual Act” that involved a so-called “aggravating factor” might have been given an other than honorable (OTH) discharge characterization. Most of the factors on the list (such as acts involving minors, prostitutes or coercion) constituted unacceptable behavior and should have resulted in an OTH. But there were two “aggravating factors” that did not inherently constitute misconduct and that should not necessarily have resulted in OTH discharges. These were acts committed openly in public view (e.g., holding hands at a restaurant) and acts committed on base or on post (e.g., a quick hug while being dropped off).
In addition, the Navy and Marine Corps gave those discharged for “marriage” or “attempted marriage” an OTH, while in the Army and the Air Force, members discharged for the same conduct received honorable or general under honorable conditions discharges, based on their service record.
Service members discharged under the pre-DADT policy were very likely to receive discharges that were less than honorable. Less than honorable discharge characterizations can have lifelong consequences, such as limiting the Veteran’s access to the GI Bill or Veterans Administration health care. Former service members who received a less than honorable discharge characterization that is not reflective of their service are eligible to apply to have that discharge upgraded to mirror their service.
All branches of the military consider Veteran to have a strong case for a discharge upgrade if they can show their discharge was connected to sexual orientation or behavioral health conditions, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); traumatic brain injury (TBI); or sexual assault/harassment during military service.
LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator (VCC) Program
The LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator assists LGBTQ+ Veterans in navigating through the VA health care system, provides community resources, and facilitates LGBT Veteran programs. The LGBTQ+ VCC also serves as a point of contact, source of information, advocate, and problem-solver for LGBTQ+ Veteran-related health care issues at Truman VA and associated CBOCs.
The Truman VA LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator is Samantha Haesemeyer; she can be reached at
Concerns and/or Complaints
If you feel you are not being provided with compassionate care at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, we encourage you to make your concerns known to your health care provider and/or a patient advocate.
If you have any questions or concerns that are not about a specific Service Line, please contact the EEO Manager, at
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