Today is Veterans Day. It’s a day meant to honor the women and men who have served our country, and although this day is a dedicated time to recognize and reflect on the sacrifices Veterans have made, we know that a single day is not enough. At Get Well, we are Veterans supporting Veterans.
We are honored to work with Veterans every day. Our work with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has expanded significantly over the years. Today, we count 70 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC) as Get Well partners, which is a 130% increase over three years. We’re also on track to receive FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO) later this year — something our team has worked hard to accomplish.
We’re proud of this work. But we’re even more proud of the people who work every day to ensure that all patients have the best possible healthcare experience.
So today, on Veterans Day, and every day, we salute those Get Well employees who have honorably served our country and pause to share some of their stories about their love of continuing to serve the Veteran community.
Q. 1. What do you enjoy most about working to support the Veteran community?
Anthony J. Principi, Former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Get Well Board Member
As a member of the Board of Directors of Get Well I am honored to work with my colleagues to serve those who have given much to our country in uniform. We owe them and their families a great debt of gratitude for their service. The men and women of Get Well are dedicated to their mission of service to them.
Ian McWilliams, Client Success Manager, Government
The thing I appreciate most on a personal level is talking to World War II veterans and hearing their stories firsthand; in the coming years that is a privilege that will no longer be possible. Professionally and as a fellow veteran, I enjoy guiding them to education and services that suit their unique needs.
Paul Huelskamp, Vice President, Growth & Client Success
Giving back to the community that has given me so much! My career started in the Air Force and led me to where I am now, continuing to work with Veterans allows me to pay it back and pay it forward to those who gave and give so much to our country.
Karl Morneau, VP, Client Success, Government
Get Well provides me the opportunity to continue to serve our nation’s Veterans now that I have hung up my uniform. I have the esteemed privilege to lead a team of dedicated Client Success Managers who always place the needs of the Veterans first ensuring our partners are maximizing value in patient engagement.
Alex Hayes, Interface Analyst II
Finding as many ways as possible to try to get the functionality with the limitations we are held to so the patient gets the best experience we can give from a tech point of view.
Amanda King, Implementation Project Manager
I enjoy being able to bring more of the outside world into the VA for the Veteran to have access to.
Q. What is your favorite story you can share about working with Veterans through Get Well.
Anthony J. Principi, Former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Get Well Board Member
As a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2001-2005, I had the privilege to lead the department of our government fulfilling our pledge to those who as President Lincoln said in his Second Inaugural address: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan. Today we also remember the women who served and gave so much to their country.
Ian McWilliams, Client Success Manager, Government
We had a Veteran who would sing all of Elvis Presley’s songs using the music icon on the TV. The nurses sang with him and held hands to dance along. Restorative was passing by the unit one day and was able to provide some maracas for him that were very well used. We had a small band almost every morning with him. He was distracted and not focused on leaving as much.
Paul Huelskamp, Vice President, Growth & Client Success
Not so much a story but what I see each day. On Rocket.Chat (Get Well’s internal communications platform), I see our VA Client Success team extensively collaborating to make things better for patients and caregivers. That collaboration leads to meaningful improvements in care for Veterans and the easing of caregiver burnout that I know allows nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals some level of work life balance.
Karl Morneau, VP, Client Success, Government
One of the best parts of my role with Get Well is the ability to engage Veterans when they are most vulnerable. The ability to provide comfort to help relieve any anxiety they may have with their hospital stay. I remember one Veteran who was admitted over the weekend. During my typical Monday rounds, orienting Veterans to the Get Well system, I was warned by nursing to stay away from this particular Veteran’s room because he was extremely agitated. After some investigation, I found out he was agitated because he was admitted on Saturday and had no means of getting in contact with his daughter to care for his animals. His telephone in his hospital room did not dial long distance. I then assisted this Veteran in creating a Facebook account on the Get Well Inpatient solution, found his daughter, and showed him how he could message her from his hospital room television. She immediately responded to his message and reassured him that his animals were safe and taken care of.
Amanda King, Implementation Project Manager
My favorite part of my interactions with Veterans happened during my time as a CSM. I loved going to the Community Living Centers (VA Nursing Home) and finding out what they missed from the outside world and then figuring out how we could get that on our Get Well system to bring them some joy and nostalgia.
