Upcoming Events
May 13 | Lincoln VA Health Fair
May 21 | VA2K Walk and Roll at Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte
May 26 | Memorial Day, outpatient clinics closed
 Army Veteran chooses Shenandoah clinic to serve again
When Darin Stites started looking for a role as a physician assistant, he knew a small town was where he wanted to be.
Darin served two tours overseas as an Army medic. His first deployment was in South Korea near the de-militarized zone, and his second was in the Middle East, where he spent time in several countries, primarily Syria.
After the Army, Darin graduated with his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee. Once he completed his training as a physician assistant at the University of Colorado, he began looking for a rural community to call home.
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 Lincoln Health Fair
Join the local Veteran community for food, fun and information about the benefits of VA and community organizations at the Lincoln VA Clinic on May 13, 2025, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. VA services including suicide prevention, MyHealtheVet, whole health, and more will be available to answer questions.
See the flyer for more details
 2025 Creative Arts Festivals
VA uses the creative arts as one form of rehabilitative treatment to help Veterans recover from and cope with physical and emotional disabilities.
Co-presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Legion Auxiliary, the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is the culmination of VA facility competitions in art, creative writing, dance, drama and music for Veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs national health care system. Local creative arts competition top winning entries advance to a national judging process and first, second and third place entries are determined at the national level. First place winning Veterans are invited to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, hosted every Spring in a different city.
VA Nebraska-Western Iowa hosts two local Creative Arts Festivals each year in Omaha and Grand Island. Veterans enrolled in VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System are invited to participate in one competition or the other. A performing arts division is only offered at the Omaha festival. Find the details for the local competitions below.
 Maternity Care Focus Group
The VA Midwest Health Care Network wants to hear about your experiences with VA Maternity Care services at a focus group on May 22, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. RSVP to participate at VHAMINWomen@VA.gov.
My HealtheVet is VA’s online patient portal. With My HealtheVet, you can take charge of your health care by accessing your VA health information online.
My HealtheVet enables you to:
The Virtual Health Resource Center (VHRC) can help you get started with My HealtheVet and help with other virtual tools from VA. Call 402-995-4966 for assistance or drop in. Click here for more details on the VHRC.
Omaha VA Medical Center | Room 1840 | Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Lincoln VA Clinic | Room 170 | Weds & Fri, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Visit My HealtheVet to learn more and create an account.
 Dr. Lydia Meece with Peter Soby, the man she helped to save.
On February 28, the atmosphere at CrossFit Hydro in Omaha, Nebraska, was electric. Athletes of all levels had gathered for “Friday Night Lights,” an event where local CrossFitters participate in the worldwide CrossFit Open.
It was supposed to be just another night of pushing limits and cheering each other on.
But for Peter Soby, it became the night he quite literally got a second chance at life.
Peter was working out side-by-side with Lydia Meece, a physician at the Omaha VA Medical Center. The workout was grueling—burpees, lunges, and heavy lifts.
“I remember the clock said eight minutes. I still had seven minutes to go,” Peter recalls. He finished the workout, sat on the ground to catch his breath, exchanged a few high-fives—and then everything went black.
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 Volunteer Ron Adams poses with Red Cross staff as they award him for 50 years of service at a small celebration at the Grand Island VA Medical Center on April 23, 2025.
By Janelle Beswick, Public Affairs Officer
For most of us, retirement might mean slowing down. For Ron Adams, it meant hitting the road—again and again and again.
A soft-spoken Army National Guard veteran with a gentle laugh and an easy humility, Ron has spent the last thirteen years volunteering as a driver for the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Veteran Transportation Network on behalf of Red Cross.
On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, the Red Cross of Nebraska and Southwest Iowa recognized Ron at the Grand Island VA Medical Center for 50 years of volunteering with Red Cross.
Ron’s passion for service began during his time in the National Guard. Now he gives back driving Veterans to their VA Nebraska-Western Iowa appointments. Rain, snow, or scorching Nebraska sun—if a veteran needs a ride to a VA appointment, Ron’s there. He doesn’t do it for praise or recognition.
“If I didn’t have this,” he says simply, “I’d probably be on the wrong side of the dirt. I don’t have anything else to do.” Helping people became his routine, his purpose—and his pride.
Ron drives nearly every day for the Veteran Transportation Network, often logging thousands of miles in a year. “Sometimes it’s two or three trips a day,” he says.
The work isn’t glamorous, but it’s vital. Many of the veterans he transports are elderly, low-income, or without family. “Between the VA and the DAV, if we didn’t drive them, some of these folks wouldn’t get to their appointments at all,” he says.
VA Nebraska-Western Iowa’s Volunteer Transportation Network provides rides to over 7,500 Veterans per year, driving more than 300,000 miles to get Veterans to their appointments. This essential service is always in need of more volunteers.
Ron has a message for anyone considering volunteering: “They need help, and we’re the ones who should be doing it. Not for a pat on the back, just because it’s the right thing.”
He’s modest about what he does. He downplays the thousands of miles, the daily commitment, the quiet conversations with veterans who might just need someone to listen.
And as long as the van has gas and Ron can get behind the wheel, that’s exactly what he’ll keep doing.
Learn about volunteering at https://www.va.gov/nebraska-western-iowa-health-care/work-with-us/volunteer-or-donate/.
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