Bay Pines VA peer specialist competing for national honor

Bay Pines VA announced that Peer Specialist Randy Lee will represent the organization and the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network in this year’s VA peer specialist of the year competition.

Lee, who earned Bay Pine’s top honor a few months ago, has also been selected as the top peer specialist throughout the Sunshine Network, which includes VA facilities from the North Florida/South Georgia, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach and Caribbean.

Lee joined Bay Pines VA in April 2021. He served 13 years in the Army, from 1985-1995 and again from 2002-2004, before receiving a medical discharge. During his second tour, Lee deployed to Iraq in 2003, as part of III Corps’ 485th Corps Support Battalion as a logistics specialist. 

His reaction upon learning of his selection: “I’ve been working a lot with Veterans in the community, and I forgot all about competing. I was really shocked when I found out they selected me.”

“He is a champion for our Veterans.”

Peer specialists are Veteran employees who use their personal, shared experiences to build professional relationships with other Veterans and promote opportunities to help those they serve identify and reach goals for recovery and wellness.

“Randy’s title here may be peer specialist, but he, like all peer specialists in our system, is actually a champion for Veterans,” said Dr. Rod Velezmoro, chief, behavioral health and mental health services.

Over the past year, Lee worked with ZERO Suicide Partnership of Pinellas Coffee Social Committee and served as the co-lead of the Bay Pines VA Veterans Only Coffee Socials. He also collaborated with the Pinellas County Crisis Intervention Team, Bay Pines VA Suicide Prevention and PTSD clinical teams and developed a mentoring program for Veterans enrolled in mental health residential treatment programs.

“I learned to give back when I went through the program here. Now I get to help Veterans reach their ultimate goal which is having a great quality of life,” Lee said.