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Stories

Read about what's happening in our VA Salt Lake City health care community.

As a Marine infantryman, Louie Fuentes fought in some of the Iraq war’s bloodiest battles.

Louie Fuentes

Updated March 26, 2021 - VA is offering COVID-19 vaccines to all Veterans, their spouses, and certain, eligible caregivers. You do not need to be enrolled in VA healthcare to receive the vaccine as prescribed in the new Save Lives Act recently passed by Congress.

A person receives a COVID vaccination

A line of anxious Veterans winds down the hall at Salt Lake City VA.

Maria Fruin vaccinates a Veteran

Of the seven men whom Salt Lake City VA’s streets are named after, only one is African American: Vernon Joseph Baker.

Vernon Baker and President Bill Clinton

It was a moment of hope when they needed it most. After months of waiting, health care workers at the Salt Lake City VA received an early holiday miracle Tuesday – in the form of 2,200 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

A VA nurse gets a COVID-19 vaccine

Keith Baker’s heart was failing. Then his liver went. Then his kidneys. In a few years, the once-vibrant Army Veteran found himself frail and bedridden.

Army Veteran and triple transplant recipient Keith Baker

Four years ago, Air Force Veteran AJ Ethridge Jr. faced a grim choice: spend the rest of his life in pain – or die from opioids.

Air Force Veteran AJ Ethridge Jr talks with a VA doctor

Imagine a future where you could see a doctor while camping. No driving. No crowded waiting rooms. Just the care you need, where and when you need it. That future is now.

A VA Salt Lake City Health Care System TeleMental Health Program Coordinator instructs a provider on how to connect with Veterans using a video conferencing program.

Six legs trod across a sandy arena. Hooves and feet sink in the dirt as horse and Veteran move as one. It’s called a “Trust Walk,” but where the Veterans are going isn’t as important as why they’re there.

Retired Army National Guard warrant officer Barton Jeffs embraces his horse, Rebel.

Six legs trod across a sandy arena. Hooves and feet sink in the dirt as horse and Veteran move as one. It’s called a “Trust Walk,” but where the Veterans are going isn’t as important as why they’re there.

Barton Jeffs with his horse, “Rebel.”