Washington Veterans Home Staff Members Receive Extra Mile Award from State of Washington
This year, all 763 WDVA Veterans Home Staff Members received the Extra Mile Award during Public Service Recognition Week!
Awards were presented last week during a virtual ceremony attended by the Governor and Secretary of State.
Here are a few excerpts from the nomination for All Veterans Home Staff Members:
- Administrators and staff of WDVA’s four Veterans Homes worked tirelessly overcoming multiple obstacles in combating the spread of the coronavirus while protecting vulnerable residents and staff.
- Teams devised innovative visitation solutions such as window visits, purchased mobile devices for use by residents for virtual and telehealth visits, and built visitation cubes to allow outdoor visitations.
- Installed high-efficiency particulate absorbing filters in all Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems that removed 95% of pollutants to include the coronavirus.
- Partnered with other state agencies and state veterans homes across the country to identify PPE supply chains due to a national shortage. Partnerships resulted in increased supply of PPE and prevented a shortage that would have been catastrophic to both residents and staff.
- When possible, coordinated with the VA Medical Centers and local hospitals to transfer and care for positive COVID-19 residents to reduce the spread of the virus as well as provide an opportunity for staff to focus on caring for the remaining residents, self-care and deep cleaning.
- Veterans Homes’ Administrators and staff worked countless hours and endured safety and occupational risks not only to themselves but to their own families. Throughout the pandemic, they demonstrated resilience, steadfast judgement, and dedication to Serving Those Who Served.
Congratulations to each and every staff person in our State Veterans Homes! Thank you for the work you do day in and day out, and the caring and compassionate way that you do it!
David Puente Jr.
Deputy Director
WA Department of Veterans Affairs