Veterans Health Hackathon 2025: Tampa VA Leads the Way in Veteran Health Care Innovation

Powered by Microsoft Artificial Intelligence Technology and in collaboration with the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, The American Legion, and MIT Hacking Medicine, the Veterans Health Hackathon brought together diverse voices to tackle the greatest challenges in Veteran health care.

In just three days, hackers identified 282 different problems, formed 51 interdisciplinary teams, and dedicated 4,980+ hours of training on AI tool use, product development, and problem-solving. Teams focused on three tracks: Timely Access to Care, Optimizing Enterprise Operations, and Improving Community Care Coordination. After 81 feedback sessions, 17 independent judges then evaluated each concept, with nine winning teams selected to move forward to the Makeathon in the Veterans Health Venture Studio pipeline for further validation and prototyping.

Driven by Community 
The broader Tampa and Florida community served as a driving force behind the 2025 Veterans Health Hackathon. Four VA medical center directors in Florida including JAHVH Interim Executive Director David VanMeter and VISN08 Interim Network Director David Dunning attended the event—helping mentor teams and share inspirational insights. 

VISN08 Interim Network Director David Dunning noted the importance of this year’s Hackathon, sharing “the overwhelming enthusiasm for this event shows how much people inside and out of VA want to improve this system. The Hackathon gives the frontline workers and the people a voice in how to make things better.”

In addition to strong leadership presence, VISN08 nearly 20% of all applicants provided important mentorship through 13 onsite mentors and was critical to the success of winning teams with seven of the nine winning teams including VISN08 team members. Further, JAHVH represented more than a quarter of hackers, represented the VA on the majority of all teams (14 in total), and represented four of the nine winning teams.

Uniting Tampa Leaders

Leaders from across sectors in Tampa Bay joined to drive the event forward. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor captured the pride of the city in her opening remarks, sharing: “I’m very proud that the Hackathon taking place in the city of Tampa. These solutions will not only be of value to our Veterans but will literally save lives.”

During the hackathon, Dr. Sandal moderated a panel on “Transforming Veterans Health Care: People, Community, and Technology Development through Public-Private Collaboration” that featured cross-industry speakers discussing real-world examples of successful healthcare collaboration and the role of public-private models in translating promising ideas into scalable solutions. Speakers included Freddy Nguyen (MIT Research Fellow), Marc MacDonald (Microsoft General Manager), Waco Hoover (Chair, Be The One, The American Legion; Founder, IMPCT Group), Dan Magoon (InnoVets Executive Director), and David Dunning (VISN08 Interim Network Director).

Prior to the award ceremony, Dr. Sandal moderated a final panel with fellows from the first year of the Veterans Health Venture Studio to share their one-year Venture Studio journey from Hackathon to Make-a-thon and Accelerator. Fellows shared lessons learned along their journey, their team’s next steps, and advice to the new cohort of teams. 

Speakers included one representative from each graduated team including the Remelia Pryor (Systems Redesign Coordinator – AI Reconciliation Ranger), Celia Ayala (Staff Nurse, Care Coordinator – Mission Readmission); Stephanie Sinnett (Innovation Specialist – VITAE), Jessica McDermott (Management Analyst – Guardian Assistant), Jamie Morano (Physician – HerStorAI); Veronica Herst (Health System Specialist – VA Match). At the concluding ceremony, Judge E.J. Salcines shared the 100 years history of Tampa—demonstrating the city’s rich military history and continued dedication to our nation’s Veterans. 

Powered by Public-Private Collaboration
The Hackathon was made possible through collaboration with The American Legion, Microsoft, and MIT Hacking Medicine. Together with VA, these partners showcased the power of public-private teamwork to create meaningful change.

As a collaborator, Microsoft offered 20 technical experts who delivered more than 125 hours of one-on-one coaching and mentorship. To drive solutions forward, each team leveraged Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the Power Platform to prototype AI-driven solutions. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Cortez, now Vice President of Military Affairs and creator of the Microsoft Software and System Academy (MSSA) at Microsoft, also shared inspiring keynote remarks reflecting on his military and innovation experience. 

In addition to this community of collaborators, the Hackathon brought on eight sponsors through the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement to support the hackathon, including Optum Serve and Uber. 

Winning Teams
Seventeen judges reviewed solutions from 51 teams and named nine winners. The winners from each track were from several VAMCs and private and academia organization, below are the one representing VISN 8 team members are featured below.

Timely Access to Care

• Bravo Zulu Health—Antonio Romero and Onelis Cardona Lorenzo
• SPEED Access Care—Sylvia Santiago-Rodriguez, Alysa Werkheiser-Quillen, Yolanda Showers, Dana Glenn, and Claudia Legaspi
• CareBridge

Optimize Enterprise–wide Costs and Operational Efficiency 

• VA Resource Allocation Mapping (VA R.A.M.) Robert Eaton and Farrah Noronha
• autoVAte—Catherine Javellana, Candace McNulty, and Ashley Rush
• CareNav—Hayley Stevenson and Nitza Robles Sanchez

Improve Community Care Coordination

• Mission Fax Impossible
• Laser Focus—Jessica Dellechiaie, Gilberto Balderas, Rafael Giraud Carcano, Carlos Gonzalez-Rodriguez, and Mia Lind Correa
• Team Care Continuity—Karen Cionci

Looking Ahead
In the months to come, the winning teams and selected finalists will join the Makeathon to receive mentorship, training, and resources to transform their ideas into working prototypes through the Veterans Health Venture Studio pipeline. This event would not be possible without the Tampa community’s energy, leadership, and commitment. 

Dr. Indra Sandal, James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital Chief of Innovation and Founder of the Veterans Health Venture Studio, shared: “Solutions that are going to come out of this will be spread across the VA enterprise. Someday, somewhere, a Veteran will be able to say proudly that they are using a solution that they themselves helped create.”

View photos from the 2025 Veterans Health Hackathon on the Tampa VA Flickr account here and check out The American Legion’s coverage of it here.