‘Every day is a bit different’ shares Facilities Chief Eberhardt on team’s success

And the dedication to that mission is not only noticed by Veterans and staff utilizing the facility but caught the attention of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America. 
On April 26, 2025, the MOAA-NH bestowed the prestigious 2024 Granite State Warriors Award to the facilities team recognizing Eberhardt and Keith R. Lacasse, an architect and healthcare engineer, during the 13th Annual Granite State Warriors Award presentation held in Plymouth, New Hampshire. 

The award was for an emergency facility response in the medical center that highlighted the Facilities and Maintenance Service team’s quick-thinking and collaborative efforts which led to limited disruption to Veteran health care services.

“We were being recognized for our team’s response to our heating outage in February 2023,” shared Eberhardt. “The heating outage happened on a record-cold day.”

“Our boiler plant, maintenance team, roads and grounds, and engineering staff responded to the emergency and each group contributed to providing solutions to the immediate problem so we could limit the impact to patient care,” stated Eberhardt.  

In addition to responding to infrastructure emergencies, the team takes a proactive approach to avert similar events, present solutions, and plan for the facility’s future development.

During the awards presentation, the facilities team was also recognized for the work being done on the Manchester VA Medical Center 10-year facility master plan.

Eberhardt shared, “While we do respond to many emergencies, we also have been working very hard to anticipate repeat problems so we can prevent them.  Our master planning process engages many people. When I heard about this award, I was not surprised that our team was being recognized because I see the hard work they do every day, and I was proud to represent them.”

Also representing the team was Lacasse. He joined the VA in July 2020 and is also the contracting officer representative taking the lead in VA Manchester’s long-term facility master planning process presenting to local and national civic leaders including  New Hampshire’s congressional delegation. He summarizes how every day is a little bit different moving from project to project.

“My day here at the Manchester VA begins at six with getting access for our building contractors and meeting them to discuss the plan for the day’s work.  Then I meet with some clinical staff to coordinate which construction activities will be allowed and, or which times we need to alter our work plan to minimize disruption to our patients,” shared Lacasse.

  
Lacasse’s day also consists of reviewing and answering questions and submittals from the contractors or meeting with design architect and engineering firms on active projects. He also works on designs for future projects and updates on the facility master plan. 

Added Lacasse, “Each day is different though with new challenges to work on which keeps this work engaging and interesting.”

At the awards ceremony MOAA-NH attendees and members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation were given a presentation on the Manchester VA Medical Center facility master plan with great interest.

“Everyone from MOAA and our congressional delegation was so gracious and welcoming to us and genuinely interested in what we’re doing at the VA medical center,” stated Lacasse. 

Eberhardt added, “Our master plan is best when we get more feedback from more stakeholders including Veteran patients and family members, Veteran groups, medical center staff, our congressional representatives, and our engineering team.”

The collaborative efforts in healthcare engineering are a blueprint for success, and leadership was alongside the facility team to support their recognition and accomplishments.

Acting Associate Director Benigno Moreno stated, “It means the world to me to see the team get recognized for their hard work. It shows a great deal of effort will always be noticed by the customer— in this case, the Veterans.” 

“It was a great honor to be at the MOAA award presentation for Kent, Keith, and Facility Management Services. Especially knowing that these previous years they have had unforeseen projects land in their hands,” said Moreno.

This year, the Manchester VA Medical Center celebrates 75 years of serving Granite State Veterans and the facility master planning continues with a flexible, talented, and dedicated team.

“In an old building we may need to perform an emergency repair on an old system … then we may take what we learned and apply it to the design of an upcoming project,” shared Eberhardt. “Every day is a bit different.”

Lori Flynn, Public Affairs Officer

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