VA Women’s Program Chief Wins Two National Awards

Washington, D.C. — The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Women Veterans, Vietnam veteran Joan Furey, has been honored by two national organizations for her leadership as an advocate for women veterans.

In separate honors, her dedication and commitment were cited both by Common Cause, which bestowed a Public Service Achievement Award, and by a partnership that administers National Public Service Awards, cosponsored by the American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration.

Furey was named director of the then-newly created Center for Women Veterans May 15, 1995, and headed the predecessor VA Women Veterans Program Office.

The VA Center for Women Veterans serves as the principal advisor to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West, Jr., on policies affecting women veterans. Its duties also include working to resolve complaints of beneficiaries, dissemination of information, and assuring equality for women veterans who seek VA benefits and services.

“Ms. Furey has been involved in women veterans’ issues for over 15 years and is nationally recognized for her expertise in post-traumatic stress disorder in women trauma survivors,” the American Society for Public Administration said. Common Cause said, “Her experience, dedication and understanding of the issues facing women veterans have made Furey an invaluable spokesperson and representative for women in the military, where few existed before.” Common Cause also noted her efforts to raise awareness of violence against women in the military, prevention measures and providing treatment for the victims.

A former Army nurse in Vietnam, Furey began her VA career as a staff nurse at the VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Fla., in 1978. After a year of duty at the VA Medical Center in Togus, Maine, she returned to Bay Pines as associate chief of nursing. In 1989, she was appointed associate director for education at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif. During her tenure at Palo Alto, the medical center established the first women veterans inpatient PTSD program. Furey’s stewardship of VA’s women veterans program at the national level began in March 1994.

Furey earned an M.A. degree in nursing from New York University and a B.S. in nursing from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is the author of numerous publications, has co-edited an anthology of poetry by women who served in Vietnam entitled Visions of War: Dreams of Peace and is a frequent presenter before professional organizations.