Stories
VA Houston health care top stories.
In a remarkable display of community collaboration, more than 1,000 Veterans recently gathered at a special event in Houston to connect with essential resources, jobs and support.
![Veteran and VA leader](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-07/Vetconnect2.jpg)
For 19 years, Dr. Thomas ‘Tom’ Zampieri, a former U.S. Army medic wore a white coat, a stethoscope, walking the halls of the Canandaigua, Richmond and the Houston VA medical centers flipping the pages of lab test results for patients as a physician’s assistant.
![Veteran](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-07/blink1_0.jpg)
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Texas awarded Army Veteran and Houston VA Transition Patient Advocate Cornelius Blackshear as their Disabled Veteran of the Year during their annual state convention on June 21.
![VA employee](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-06/MM3_2081.jpg)
Meet Sonja White, an RN at the Houston VA. As an Air Force Veteran, she says she is particularly honored to care for those who have served.
![VA employee](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-06/Sonja.jpg)
Three months after returning from his second deployment to Iraq, Army Veteran Henry Escobedo-Ramirez began having problems with his vision in late 2010.
![Veteran with bicycle](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-05/Henry.jpg)
Army Veteran Herman Johnson has struggled with his weight for years. His health suffered, his mobility suffered and even his relationships suffered.
![Veteran with his VA doctor](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-05/fresh-connect.jpg)
An Air Force Veteran’s life recently changed forever when doctors at two VA medical centers, almost 2,000 miles apart, worked together and used cutting-edge new technology to restore his good health.
![Veteran and his dog](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-05/feature-image.jpg)
Marine Corps Veteran David Harrison and his wife Sylvia were smiling big at the Houston VA today, as he nears the end of an inpatient hospitalization and prepares to go home.
![Veteran and spouse and chickens](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-05/Chickens-web.jpg)
Live music, food and family fun brought more than 1,000 Texas Veterans and their families together on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in April at Houston’s Vet Fest 2024.
![VA staff](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-04/Vetfest1.jpg)
Beaumont area Veterans are now eligible for free weekday transportation to and from the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston for medical appointments.
![Passenger bus](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-04/Shuttle-Drupal_0.png)