This episode is a presentation by some of the VISN2 LGBTQ+ Coordinators on Transgender Awareness Week. if your looking to connect with an LGBTQ+ Coordinator at Albany or any of the VA facilities in New York use this link

A Safety6 Story is something the hospital shares regularly with staff as part of our mission to be a High Reliability Organization (HRO). This Veteran special story highlights the amazing work our Social work and Mental Health staff do everyday, so we sat down with Kelly Manolopoulos one of our outstanding Social Workers and Alisha Reiter our high …

Today we were joined by Nicole Melius, Chief Radiation Therapist, Kelsey Miller Radiation Therapist and Dr. PhillipSilverman to provide an overview of the array of Cancer Services Offered at the Albany VA. Give it a listen. If you know a Veteran in need of care please have them call 518 626 6650. for a short video on out True beam in action click h…

Today we were joined by the Facility My HealtheVet Coordinator Gina Keller [518-626-5000 Ext 61514] To talk about some of the upcoming security upgrades come for My Health E Vet and what it means to you as a Veteran. To log into My Health E Vet click this hyperlink If you need to contact the helpdesk for Login.gov you can call 844-875-6446 If you n…

Today we interviewed Dr. Farzon Nahvi a physician with the VISN 2 Clinical Contact Center's Tele Emergency Center program. You can reach them at 1 800 877 6976. the takeaway from today's episode is, they should be the 1st call if your not feeling well.

this month Sarah Mulhall our LGTBQ+ Coordinator interviewed Jae Ward on her experiences as an LGTBQ+ Veteran. If you have questions on the services offered at Albany VA or questions about what's coming up for PRIDE give Sarah a Call at 518 414 6327

On May 23 2024, FMS employee Jason Sprague and VA Police Officer Carlos Romero were presented HERO awards for their actions to put our a fire at the facility earlier in the year. This is a copy of the awards presentation for our audience. Safety Story read by Joe McDonnell and awards presented by Medical Center Director Darlene Delancey…

This month we were joined by Dr. Susan Opar and Sarah Mulhall, Social Worker. To talk about LGTBQ+ Health to find a local coordinator click here to contact Sarah at: Phone: 518-626-7523 Email: Sarah.mulhall@va.gov

Today we interviewed Scott Zimber of the Saratoga Naval Station Commissary about what services are offered there and how it can support Veterans in the community. If your a Veteran with Service Connected injuries, check it out they also have a new Click2Go program where you can order ahead and pick up…

In this Episode we interviewed Jason Davis [(315)744-5409 or jason.davis3@va.gov ] of the Binghamton Vet Center on What the Vet Centers are, what services they offer and why are the one of the VA's best Kept secrets. if you want to locate a Vet Center go to Vetcenter.gov or call the Combat Call Center to find the closest Vet Center to you 1-877-927…

This episode we are joined by Keith Claffey and Reshma Patel, 2 providers from the VISN 2 Clinical Contact Center (1 800 877 6976). In this episode, we unpacked what the VISN 2 Clinical Call Center is and why it should be your 1st call if your not feeling well. As Keith said "a dedicated healthcare professional is just a phone call or click away."…

in this episode we profile Facility Maintenance Service (FMS) supervisor and local legend in FMS Mr. Keith Olmstead

Today we were joined by one of our Favorite Social Workers Rebecca Newton of the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program and Chief of Police Thomas Gibbons to talk about the VJO program, the outstanding Veterans in Crisis Training and National Police week. don't Miss this Episode

Today we are joined by Nikki Holt, one of our Outstanding Social Workers to talk about the Caregiver Support program and some upcoming Caregiver events

Fun Fact: Did You Know that our intro is from the unofficial Albany VA anthem and played by Christina Rulison one of our Recreation Therapists Today we are joined by The Hospital's Local Recovery Coordinator, Senior Social Worker Penny Deasy, to talk about May is Mental Health Awareness Month what it is and what is in store at the Hospital this May…

April 24th through the 28th is Laboratory Professionals Week and today we were joined by Dr. Raina Patel, Chief of Pathology and Heather Merkley-Tamburello, the Lab Manager to discuss All Things related to the lab. We discussed the Lab's function during the pandemic and what they do on a day to day basis which is pretty special. in FY 2022, the Str…

In a new segment we're calling the "wellness minute" we're discussing the VA2K with Rebeka Lange, Physicians Assistant in Occupational Health which is open to Veterans and Staff on May 17th

In this month's special Episode #3 of April's Dignity and Respect Campaign where our front line staff ask senior leader's the same 5 questions on what Dignity and Respect Campaign means to them. for Episode 2, the Front Office Program Support Specialist Miss Sharon Joyner interviewed the Associate Chief of Staff for Research and one of our neurolog…

In This Episode we speak with Julie Montalbano, RN and the best Systems Redesign Specialist in the Albany VA, Robert Sklenarik, about Julie's Systems Redesign Project to improve the Veterans Experience during a colonoscopy. To see her video click here.

In this month's special Episode #2 of April's Dignity and Respect Campaign where our front line staff ask senior leader's the same 5 questions on what Dignity and Respect Campaign means to them. for Episode 2, the Front Office Administrative Officer Nicole LaChappelle interviewed the Associate Director of Patient Care Services, Our Chief Nurse, Amy…

Brief discussion with THE best Systems Redesign Specialist in Albany VA Robert Sklenarik on what Systems Redesign is, LEAN/Sigma Six Blackbelt training and oververiew of what Continuous Process Improvement is

for the Special Episodes on our Dignity and Respect Campaign we will be having front line staff interviewing staff on what it means to them. Today for Episode 1 we have Jamie Golembieski Program Specialist and Marine Veteran, interviewing our High Reliability Officer Mary Ann Jones an Air Force Veteran.…

In episode #1 of a new episodic segment we call Profiles in Services, Annette Towne who has worked at the Albany VA for 39 years as a registered nurse (RN) in various capacities talks about her experiences working with Veterans and shares some lessons learned over her career, it is a must listen.

Continuing with the theme of March is Social worker month, we interviewed Michelle Chavarria and Jennifer Stilleto-Smith, the Social workers for our Community Engagement and Partnership team on the role social workers play role in the Mission of serving Veterans, and on their new roles engaging and partnering with the Community. If your interested …

Social workers play a crucial role in the Mission of serving Veterans, they are healthcare force multipliers and key members of the healthcare team. today we interviewed three social workers about their experiences about being interns (a tie in to last weeks episode on healthcare professions education week) and their current roles serving Veterans.…

March is Social Work Month and March 14-18 is health Professions Education Week so today we were joined by Karen Sheehan Social Worker Supervisor and Rachel Gates, Jonathan Gay Social Work Interns to discuss Social Work Month and Health Professions Education Week

Join Lindsay Shoonmaker, RN in our GI program in a brief presentation on the importance of early screening and detection. to watch a video on this presentation click here or check out the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center Facebook Page if you have further questions you can contact the GI Clinic at 518 626 6385 or the GI Care Manager at 518 626 6312…

Welcome Back we are rebooting our Podcast in 2023 to talk about the PACT Act, Outreach, the services offered at the Hospital, highlighting our staff and other events.

To help us kick off our goal of recruiting 2,020 new Veterans in 2020 we interviewed primary care physician Dr. Rachael Grimm and Fisher house manager Mike Fitzpatrick on all that Primary care and the Fisher House have to offer.

This is an audio recording of the facility’s June 5, 2019 Mission Act Facebook live event with Kirsten Danforth, Mission Act Champion and Mary Ann Jones, Community Care Program Manager. To learn more visit https://missionact.va.gov

Episode 4.3 - Get to know the Community Living Center (CLC) To learn more general information on Community Living Centers click Here, for specifics on the Albany VA CLC call Barbara Darling at (518) 626-6037. To learn more about the Albany VA CLC's hand hygiene campaign and fighting the Flu click here…

In this Episode we spoke with Supervisory Social Worker Patricia Kidder about the VA Innovators Network and hoe it impacts the Albany VA to learn more the VA Innovators Network and some of the initiatives that have grown from it go to https://medium.com/vainnovation/tagged/innovation To learn more about the three box solution click here Staff can a…

Episode 4.1 contains a A brief overview of Mental Health Services at the Albany VA, its Drop In groups and a teaser for a short infomercial the facility made for May is Mental Health month in conjunction with the National #BeThere Campaign. If your interested in learning more about Mental Health give the clinic a call at 518 626 5339. If you are in…

Did you Know the VA is the largest provider of Mammography services in the country? For the Month of March we focused the podcast on Women’s Health and The Mammography Program, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this April. To learn more about the Women's Health program click this link for a short video or go to the Albany VA Women's Health …

Voluntary Services and salute to Veteran patients;To learn more about Albany's Voluntary Services check out the link belowhttps://www.albany.va.gov/giving/index.asp To connect with Noney about Volunteering or the National Salute to Veteran Patients Week give her a call at (518) 626-5507The Education Spotlight with Dr. William Breen:To learn more ab…

Episode #1: introductions & Whole Health/Fight the FluFor more information on the Albany VA go to;https://www.albany.va.gov/If you are interested in enrolling in VA health care call James and his staff at (518) 626 6744 or go to https://www.va.gov/health-care/how-to-apply/for more information on Whole Health go to; https://www.va.gov/PATIENTCENTERE…