Stories

When Meisha Jensen began working with the Homeless and Justice Clinical Recovery Program at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS), she quickly became a driving force in how the health care system approaches coordinated care for Veterans experiencing homelessness.

June is PTSD Awareness Month, a time to recognize the unseen wounds of trauma and the courage it takes to seek healing.

Drake Slattery, the grandson of a Veteran, doesn’t seem to slow down.

When Tracy Shrier shows up for a volunteer shift at the Fisher House at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System (VASLCHCS), he is ready to do whatever is needed.

Shortly after midnight on August 27, leaders at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System received an unexpected call, notifying them of a substantial water leak in the facility. In a matter of hours, the medical center’s plumbers and engineers determined a hot water pipe broke.

At 79, Marine Veteran Douglas B. Hatch was paralyzed by Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition in which the body attacks its nerves. Now 83, he’s training to compete again in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

For many Veterans, accessing fresh and nutritious food is a challenge.

Army Veteran Kenneth Warkocki will participate in adaptive Alpine skiing at the 2025 Winter Sports Clinic after rebuilding his health through VA Salt Lake City’s Whole Health and recreation therapy programs.

“I wake from a coma. As things start to make sense, I see my wife struggling to tell me that my left leg is gone,” said Michael Martell. So he beat her to it. Smirking, he asked, “So, I’m a [expletive] pirate now, huh?”

Haunted by trauma — The lingering trauma from his service in Desert Shield and Desert Storm followed him home, silent but suffocating.