VA engineers provide best Veteran patient experience

From keeping high-tech ultrasound machinery functioning to providing optimal temperature climates to ensuring a television works for a patient recovering from illness in a room, North Texas VA engineers are the unsung heroes that keep employees and patients happy and able to provide or receive world-class health care.

It takes a lot of technical know-how, determination and sweat to keep an 80-year old building on a 100-acre campus and millions of square feet at 11 other locales in eight counties fully functioning and capable of servicing 7,000 employees and 1.5 million visits each year.

“The Veterans’ well-being comes first and we will do whatever it takes to keep them healthy and comfortable,” said Carnell Mathis, electronics engineer. Pictured above, Mathis (far left) instructs his fellow engineers on the maintenance requirements of a new patient bed.

North Texas VA engineers are specialists, bringing knowledge, skills and tools that drive and enable clinical and organizational change. They focus on the health care system as a whole and implement changes in components that manage the whole system and its many services and technologies.

Engineers optimize procedures, enhance the patient experience and design strategies to minimize operating costs. And sometimes optimizing the patient experience and keeping access on track means ensuring the television in a patient’s room is operational.

Engineers drive key VA priorities from behind the scenes

“It may not seem like a big deal when a patient gets to their room and the television isn’t working, but it could mean that space isn’t available until we get it fixed,” Mathis explained.

By ensuring the proper functioning of facilities and equipment, and providing for a safe working environment and patient experience, engineers are driving every key VA priority from behind the scenes.

“Our engineers do a valiant job in keeping the many moving pieces of a very large health care system operational and fully functional,” said Jason Cave, medical center director. “The synthesis of all their collective engineering knowledge and efforts is what drives the success of our health care system.”