---
title: BTM164 - Ronald Rutherford - VA's Whole Health Program — Psycharmor
description: On today’s episode, we feature a conversation with Navy Veteran Ronald Rutherford, the Lead for the Whole Health Outreach program for the Veterans Health Administration. Whole Health is VA’s approach to care that supports the health and well-being of veterans they serve, and focuses on self-care, sk
---

[Behind the Mission ](https://psycharmor.org/podcast)

# [BTM164 - Ronald Rutherford - VA's Whole Health Program — Psycharmor](https://psycharmor.org/podcast/ronald-rutherford)

 Written by [Emma Atherall](https://psycharmor.org/podcast/author/emma-atherall) | Apr 9, 2024 7:00:00 AM

**About Today’s Guest**

**Ronald “Ron” Rutherford** is the Lead for Whole Health Outreach with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Patient Centered Care & Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT). Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he is responsible for liaising with non-governmental and Veteran Service Organizations for the purposes of bringing awareness to VHA’s Whole Health offerings for Veterans and their families. Ron joined OPCC&CT in November 2011 as a Field Implementation Consultant for VA medical facilities in Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Prior to joining VHA, he served 26 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman. As an Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman, Ron served on multiple ships as the primary healthcare provider and healthcare consultant for Occupational and Environmental health programs. During his time in the Navy, he also managed short based and overseas medical facilities, and his last assignment involved managing 11 shipboard medical departments and their staff in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Ron has a BSHS in Clinical Health Science (Pre-Physician Assistant Studies) and a MSHS in Healthcare Management from The George Washington University.

 **PsychArmor Resource of the Week**

This week’s PsychArmor resource of the week is the PsychArmor course **Communicating With Veterans**. This course discusses how to communicate effectively with Veterans using communication tools, such as open-ended questions, affirmations, and reflections. You can see find the course here: [https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/communicating-with-veterans](https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/communicating-with-veterans).

**Links Mentioned In This Episode**

[VA Whole Health Program Website](https://www.va.gov/wholehealth/)

[Whole Health Program Points of Contact at local VA Facilities](https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/whole-health-facility-contacts.asp)

[Complementary and Integrative Health Overview and Descriptions](https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/professional-resources/clinician-tools/cih.asp)<https://psycharmor.org/btm108-transcription-1>

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**Theme Music  
**Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with [Operation Encore](https://operationencore.org/), a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.

**This Episode Sponsored By:  
**This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.

 *Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at *[*www.veteranmentalhealth.com*](http://www.veteranmentalhealth.com)*  *

[View full post](https://psycharmor.org/podcast/ronald-rutherford)

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