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VA » Health Care » National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships » About the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships Team

National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

About the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships Team

Georgeanna (“Georgi”) Bady
Health Systems Specialist
VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

Ms. Bady has 13 years of federal service with VA, and more than 30 years of experience in her field, health care administration. As a member of HAP, her primary responsibilities focus on the establishment of public-private partnerships. She is skilled in the areas of benefits administration, practice management, compliance, ethics, policy analytics, internal control management, and audit. She received her degree from DeVry University and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in business administration.

What is the most rewarding thing about the work you do, and why?

There are many rewarding things about the work I do, but the most important is to me is to be able work on projects that I know impact and improve the quality of life for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors. Knowing that that these individuals are able to receive services, through partnerships, that VA is sometimes unable to provide gives me a sense of purpose that is unimaginable.

What motivates you during challenges in the course of your work?

I am the daughter of a World War II Veteran, the wife of a Vietnam-era Veteran, and the mother of an Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran. I have experienced their sacrifices and their wounds. Seeing how the Department helped them motivates me to get up every day. I want to contribute to our organization to make it better for the Veterans we serve today.

What partnership or innovation within HAP holds special meaning for you, and why?

My husband and my son, both Veterans, were both diagnosed with cancer. My husband is a cancer survivor. My son did not survive his illness. The very first partnership I oversaw as a member of HAP was a partnership with GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. Knowing the importance of screening for cancer is not academic to me—it’s personal. I promised my son that I would do all I could to make life better for the next Veteran.

What is the best part about working with your team?

The best part of working with this team is that there is a sense of being part of a family. We care for one another. Since joining HAP, I have felt that I belonged and that it was a natural fit. We can laugh, cry, and press on together. We don’t focus on ourselves as individuals, we focus on the work we do.

Dr. Jamie D. Davis
Health Systems Specialist
VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

Dr. Davis has spent the past 15 years supporting Veterans, service members, and their families by providing direct mental health services and conducting health services and policy research. Within HAP, she manages a portfolio of national partnership initiatives and innovative clinical demonstration projects for Veterans. Dr. Davis obtained her Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University and her pre- and post-doctoral fellowships at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

What is the most memorable or meaningful interaction you’ve had with a Veteran in the course of your work?

The most memorable and meaningful interaction I’ve had is not with a single Veteran, but with the many Veterans with whom I have collaborated to facilitate their wellness journeys. I am a psychologist who specializes in trauma and disaster mental health. I feel so honored to have worked with Veterans and been trusted to hear their stories – and to help them find their strengths and use resources to recover and heal.

Why is the work you do so important for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors?

At least one member in my family has served in every major war or conflict since the American Revolution. I have seen, firsthand, the impact that serving in the armed services can have on Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors – not only because of my family’s strong commitment to serving their country, but also through my work as a psychologist providing direct care to Veterans.

Why is the work coming from the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships so important?

Partnerships increase access to services and benefits for Veterans who choose VA as their health care provider as well as Veterans who do not seek medical care through VA. HAP’s work is also impactful because it provides innovative treatments for the small segment of Veterans who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), suicidal ideation, and pain, but who do not experience the type of treatment gains that might allow them to live happier, healthier lives.

How does collaboration factor into your work, and why is it important?

Collaboration ensures that multiple perspectives are considered for a project or initiative. Including various viewpoints is essential so that proposed solutions address the diversity of Veterans, their caregivers, and families. Collaboration also helps our team get to know other stakeholders, both internal and external to VA, who are also committed to providing the best care and services to our nation’s Veterans.

Christine Eickhoff
Health Systems Specialist
VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

Since joining the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships in 2016, Ms. Eickhoff has worked to explore partnership opportunities and health innovations that directly impact Veterans across the VA system. She has also worked with VA’s War Related Illness and Injury Study Center and the Patient-Centered Care Integrative Health and Wellness Program as both a research coordinator and in support of clinical services. Ms. Eickhoff received her master's degree in psychology from American University and is currently facilitating partnerships that support Veterans, military spouses, and other beneficiaries, across social determinants of health such as employment, economic stability, and health literacy.

What is something about the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships that you think readers should know about?

In many cases, our office works with existing programs and organizations to increase the impact of an innovative partnership or practice to serve more Veterans and their families. By collaborating with local VA experts and community organizers, we are able to increase VA’s capacity to serve Veterans and their beneficiaries across the nation, meeting them where they are and making VA care more accessible than ever before.

Why is the work you do so important for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors?

Our work is important because the health and well-being of every Veteran, family member, caregiver, and survivor is important. Our growing community of partners helps us reach more Veterans than we could on our own. While our aim is to serve as many as possible, some of my days are spent troubleshooting issues that individual Veterans face. On these days in particular, I see the importance of dedicating all of my effort to helping this one person and the meaningful impact that can have.

What about the work you do are you most grateful for?

I remember fondly one of my grandfather’s friends whom I met when I was young; another Veteran, like my grandfather, who had served in the Navy. I was shocked to hear that he had taken his own life; that someone whom I remembered as being so joyful had been in so much pain and hadn’t been able to find the help he needed. The work we do in HAP helps provide Veterans with innovative approaches to overcoming their challenges, through both community partnerships and innovative clinical care. I’m grateful for every opportunity I have to make a difference, big or small, in the lives of Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.

Heather M. Luper
Social Work Program Manager
VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

Within the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships, Ms. Luper specializes in supporting the development of new and innovative medical treatments and partnerships that benefit Veterans and their families. She currently administers program evaluation of the VA Mental Health Mobility Service Dog Initiative, coordinating VA's efforts to extend veterinary health benefits for service dogs of Veterans with mental health disorders.

She is also the lead for the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships’s efforts around the social determinants of health, which are the conditions in the life and environments where Veterans live, learn, play, worship, and age. Ms. Luper received her master's degree in social work from West Virginia University.

What is the best part about working with your team?

The HAP team is truly collaborative. We have the opportunity to volunteer to lead projects that we are passionate about, and we meet together regularly to brainstorm and come up with solutions to any barriers we may face. Working with this team has absolutely resulted in better service to our Veterans and innovative solutions.

Why is the work you do so important for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors?

We are eager to discover new, innovative approaches to Veteran treatment and care. We are open to new ideas, and we encourage safe yet creative treatment solutions.

Why is the work coming from the National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships so important?

HAP partners with the community to expand and enhance services being provided to Veterans. VA does so much for Veterans and their families, but we cannot do everything alone. Community partnerships are so important because they bridge the gap in access to services for our Veterans.

What is something surprising about the work you do that you think readers probably wouldn’t realize?

Some may think that the VA Central Office (VACO, where VHA’s National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships is located) is isolated from the direct work of serving Veterans. We think about, talk about, and advocate for Veterans every single day. We may not be working directly with Veterans each day, but every day our focus, our drive, and our goal is to serve Veterans.

Randolph (“Randy”) C. Moler
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships

Mr. Moler assists in the development of national partnerships that provide help to Veterans. He coordinates meetings between VHA subject matter experts and representatives from non-governmental organizations to determine if a proposed partnership will directly benefit Veterans. Mr. Moler also works to determine if a proposed partnership will establish measurable goals and outcomes to aid in ongoing monitoring of the partnership.

What motivates you during challenges in the course of your work?

The primary reason I wanted to work at VA was to repay a debt. My father retired from the U.S. Army after serving 30 years. Early in his military career he was deployed to Vietnam. Eight months into his tour, his tank company was called in to support infantry during a firefight. He was injured—shot in the neck. That required an immediate medivac to save his life. I often think about the unknown soldier who pulled him off that tank to get him the medical care he needed, and the field hospital staff that stabilized him before he could be transferred for additional care.

Why is the work you do so important for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors?

Developing partnerships with community organizations allows VA to fill gaps in what VA is able to provide. Examples of this could be partnerships with food pantries, transportation services, and organizations that provide housing assistance (such as furnishings and household supplies).

What partnership within HAP holds special meaning for you, and why?

Assisting with the development of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between VHA and the Parkinson’s Foundation (PF) holds a special meaning to me, because it will be the first MOA that I have advised on and shepherded through the concurrence process from start to finish. VHA and PF have a shared goal to improve the care and quality of life for Veterans living with Parkinson’s through collaborative education, research, and services.

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