From medical care provider to medical care cheerleader
Michael Marshall enlisted in the Navy in 1969 with his eyes on becoming a hospital corpsman.
After Great Lakes Navy boot camp and Navy Hospital Corp School, Marshall says he got his first pick of assignments at Bethesda Navy Hospital outside Washington D.C.
“I worked in hospital wards, the intensive coronary care unit, and later the pharmacy. I then got orders to Fleet Medical School at Camp Lejeune North Carolina and was stationed with the Marines,” he said. Finally, he was stationed on the LY Spears AS-36 as a pharmacy technician stationed at Norfolk.
After four years of service, he attended Grand Valley State Collage (later University) in Michigan. But when his funds ran short his last year of college, he raised his hand for two more years with Uncle Sam. Later, he graduated from University with a BS in Biology.
He learned a lot during his service that he was able to apply to his 40+ year career in the Vacuum Deposition Films industry as a Senior Scientist. During those years he didn’t think of getting his care at the VA.
“I started receiving care at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis in early Nov. 2024,” said Marshall. “I had cancer of the bladder and had a tumor removed at a local hospital early in Sept. 2024. The care and treatment I received in private medicine was ok, but I needed a second medical opinion and the VA stepped up in a big way. At my first visit the caring treatment, concern, and help was in abundance.”
Marshall felt so cared for at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, that he sent a thank you letter to the Urology staff, wanting management to know how fantastic his registered nurses – Jennifer and Michael – were. “Their professionalism, medical knowledge, personal skills, and kindness is a credit to the VA hospital services,” he wrote.
We set up a chance for Marshall to share his appreciation with his nurses. “Your letter was so kind,” said Jennifer Shipstad, a registered nurse in Urology.
“You two are excellent at what you do,” said Marshall.
And if anyone should know about great hospital services, it would be the guy that worked in them himself, as a Sailor.