VA Center to Honor Women Veterans

The Sepulveda VA Medical Center will recognize the contributions of women veterans Thursday, with a special event featuring speakers, health information and medical screenings.

“This is a great opportunity for us here in the hospital to reach out to women veterans,” said Kallie Wight, a counselor in the Women Veterans Health Program.

The program’s Comprehensive Care Center, which was established in 1993, serves many of the estimated 25,000 women veterans in Los Angeles County and is one of only eight such centers in the nation, Wight said.

“Women veterans are pretty much an unknown group,” Wight said.

“They have served their country, but they get overlooked, so we make a special effort to recognize them around Veterans Day.”

Veterans Day is Monday.

Thursday’s event is open to all women veterans and will focus on health issues, including heart disease, domestic violence, personal safety and home security, said Wight.

Speakers from the Los Angeles Police Department, American Cancer Society and Havenhills Women’s Shelter will attend, and nurses from the medical center will provide free medical services, such as flu shots, vision tests and blood pressure and body fat screenings.

Terry Salehyar, a retired Army Nurse Corps colonel, will be honored for her achievements, Wight said. Salehyar served from 1989 to 1995 as the chief nurse for the Army Medical Command of the Surgeon General’s Office at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

“She really carried this program for a long time. We want to recognize her for her dedication and for her wonderful sense of humor,” Wight said.

The women veterans celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Recreation Hall (Building 22) of the medical center, 16111 Plummer St., North Hills.