NORTH HILLS : Official Begins Job at VA Medical Center

Hundreds of employees and patients at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center welcomed a new associate director to the facility Tuesday.

Dollie Whitehead, 56, who has worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs for nearly 30 years in medical centers throughout the country, was recently appointed to the position at the North Hills facility.

As associate director under Director Norman Hensley, Whitehead will be responsible for managing the center’s annual budget of about $115 million as well as overseeing equipment acquisition and personnel. The previous associate director, Gary Nugent, who held the position for six years, was appointed to a Nebraska facility.

Whitehead said she is excited by the appointment to the 40-year-old facility, which she called a flagship in geriatric research and managed care.

Whitehead said one of her goals as associate director will be to identify ways to work effectively within budget constraints.

“We will be called upon to do more with less,” Whitehead said. “We will be looking at where we can improve our efficiency.”

Born in Florida, Whitehead has worked in VA medical centers in Fresno, San Francisco and Long Beach as well as Louisiana and Maryland. She became involved with the VA as a student of social work at Atlanta University.

The Sepulveda VA Medical Center, which averages between 200 and 300 patients a day, is the only VA hospital in the San Fernando Valley.