Stories
Read about what's happening in our VA Spokane health care community.
Staff at a Spokane VA clinic found a creative way to inspire one of its doctors, with a surprise “act of care” even he couldn’t see coming, a year after he and his wife lost their home, and everything in it during a devastating wildfire.
![Eye Clinic staff with gift for Dr. Urness](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-08/Eye%20Clinic%20staff%20w-PSU%20presentation%20to%20Dr.%20Urness%202024_1.jpg)
Mann-Grandstaff VAMC’s PACT Act outreach letters to help Veterans know why it's important to enroll in VA health care - is working! Meet Verona Southern, a US Marine Corps Veteran who is also 100-years old! She received a letter from VA and responded.
![100-year-old USMC Veteran, Verona Southern](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2024-03/100yr%20USMC%20Veteran%20Verona%20Southern%20-%202%20crop.jpg)
VA’s Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning announced during fiscal year 2022, Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center achieved the highest improvement in overall rating of Hospital inpatient experience throughout Veterans Health Administration and its 171 VA medical centers nationwide.
She worked day in and day out, alongside her fellow VA caregivers and health technicians providing bedside care to Veterans in-need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, she wasn’t alone.
![Two smiling nurses at hallway station in Spokane VA hospital](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2023-08/Kailey%20Wilson_Christie%20Fields_cropped3_1.jpg)
She fought back tears, like so many times before. Cancer sucks. Only this time, she wasn't afraid of the looks of her shaved head or the "what if's" and uncertainties of a cancer diagnosis.
![Navy Veteran cancer survivor](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2023-03/Navy%20Veteran%20cancer%20story_0.png)
Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center has reopened its Acute Psychiatric Unit (APU), after a multi-year renovation to the inpatient unit.
![APU Ribbon Cutting at Spokane VA](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2023-01/IMG_0607_1.jpg)
A local World War-II Veteran continues to inspire his family and the dedicated team at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center by crediting VA for his continued health, access to COVID vaccines, and a life-long commitment to service before self. He was an “airman” before the Air Force was even born.
![Donald McSparrin, U.S. Army Air Corps WWII Veteran](https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.www.va.gov/img/styles/2_1_medium_thumbnail/public/2021-10/McSparrin_thenAndNow_0.png)