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GCVHCS Celebrates Virtual Veterans Experience Week, VA2K Walk

Pensacola VA2K Walk
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Pensacola, Florida-based Blue Wahoos mascot Kazoo participate alongside Gulf Coast Veteran Health Care System (GCVHCS) employees at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center (JACC) participates in the organization's VA2K walk May 18. The VA2K is an annual U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) event encouraging VA employees and community participants of all fitness levels to participate in a fun walk promoting a healthy active lifestyle while supporting homeless Veterans through donations. (Official GCVHCS photo by Thomas Coffelt)

BILOXI, Miss. – With an effort designed to educate employees on the Veteran experience, Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System (GCVHCS) staff at the organization's five facilities in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida participated in Virtual Veterans Experience (VX) Week May 16 through 20.

   The largely virtual series of events, including daily hour-long lunchtime seminars on a variety of topics designed to increase GCVHCS employees on the issues Veterans and other eligible beneficiaries could face during visits to facilities, was highlighted by the annual U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs' (VA)-wide VA2K walk May 18, something event organizer and GCVHCS Patient Centered Care Coordinator Mary Nelson said provides an enjoyable opportunity to socialize with other employees as well as keep up with individual fitness goals while donating to the GCVHCS Homeless Veterans program.

   “The VA2K encourages VA employees and community participants of all fitness levels to participate in a fun walk promoting a healthy active lifestyle while supporting homeless Veterans through donations,” Nelson said. “Our employees are truly outstanding and gave so much to the GCVHCS Homeless Veterans program through both monetary and non-perishable item donations.”

   Nelson added that numerous GCVHCS departments manned booths set up along the predetermined walking path at each of the organization’s five facilities, promoting various programs including Whole Health; the Office of Virtual Care; Caregiver Support Program; Women Veterans Program; My HealtheVet; Intimate Partner Violence/Domestic Violence; Behavioral Health; and Social Work, providing an interactive method for employees to familiarize themselves further still with services offered through the health care system.

   Although the VA2K remained the centerpiece of the week-long celebration of Veterans Experience Week, Nelson said the daily lunchtime virtual presentations – each featuring a different topic presented by a GCVHCS employee – presented an opportunity to ­reinforce the continued emphasis the organization places on the Veteran and their experience.

   “Each of these VX Week seminars showcased methods all employees can use in their daily interactions with our Veterans,” she said. “Increasing Veteran trust in our capabilities and organization and on a more personal level us – the individual the Veteran sees when visiting – is crucial to fostering attitudes toward our GCVHCS.”

    Nelson said that topics such as Appreciating Veterans and those that Live to Serve Veterans, Talks on Trust and Gratitude, Promoting Whole Health and Self Care Tools and Resources, Recognizing the Diversity of the Veterans We Serve and of Our Workforce and Appreciating Our Employees, served to reinforce the VA’s Core Values of Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence.

   “Our Veterans are first and foremost in everything we do,” she added. “As we continue our journey toward that of a high-reliability organization (HRO) the employee and their interaction with the Veteran is a critical part of this evolution. Our VX Week activities were key to our employee development in how we care for our Veterans.”

   The GCVHCS is comprised of the Biloxi Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and the Mobile, Pensacola, Eglin and Panama City community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs). Headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi, the GCVHCS provides a variety of medical outpatient services to more than 82,000 Veterans and other eligible beneficiaries along the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast.

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