Whole Health at VA Pittsburgh

Enter through the front doors of the H. John Heinz III campus of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on any given day and you might see Veterans doing yoga, tai chi, weightlifting and any number of other physical activities.

What you’re really seeing as you watch exercisers stretch and curl dumbbells and log their steps on treadmills is Veterans getting better and growing stronger—Veterans supporting one another and reclaiming their lives. That’s because Veterans in the Whole Health program at VA Pittsburgh are building more than just muscle—they’re building vitality, community and the future of health care.

For Drs. Scott Herrle and Nathan Blakeley, who started in their roles in the Whole Health program nearly four years ago, their motivation goes much deeper than fitness. It is embedded in the very core of Veteran wellness.

“If you think about putting the Veteran at the center of their care and really supporting them with all these measures that will improve their health, Whole Health is the perfect setup for that,” said Herrle, the chief and clinical director of Whole Health at VA Pittsburgh. “[It has] become my professional mission, aspiration and purpose to realize we need to grow [Whole Health], and we need to make this available to every Veteran.”

Exercise is key

When Herrle and Blakeley first started working in Whole Health in September 2021, they did so without any dedicated employees. With no designated areas for exercises in those early days, they used hallways and borrowed spaces. However, their vision was clear.

“We decided to make exercise a key focus of our Whole Health program,” Herrle said. “I literally have a patient [who] walks up to me every day and tells me how these programs have helped them.”

One of those patients is Tim Mahon, an Army Veteran who struggled with weight gain, diabetes and severely reduced mobility. “I could walk from the bed to the couch and had to take a nap,” he recalled of his condition when he was first referred to Whole Health. Back then, it was a challenge for Mahon to get out of his chair and lift one-pound dumbbells.

Another patient, Air Force Veteran Ray Cvetic, suffered from heart disease, a sleep disorder, multiple back conditions and a stroke complicated by several bouts of COVID-19. On a trip to Scotland with his wife, Cvetic could barely walk.

Both Veterans enrolled in group classes, participating in offerings such as yoga, tai chi, weightlifting and balance exercises. In the span of a year and a half, Mahon is curling 40-pound dumbbells. A diehard Steelers fan, he promises to someday climb the steps of Acrisure Stadium—that is, if his hometown team holds up its end of the bargain by making the playoffs.

As for Cvetic, he credits Whole Health with enabling him to cut back on his medications. These days, he is also walking without the use of a cane and plans to go hiking with his wife in Iceland later this year. “I can lay on the floor facedown right now, and I can get myself up. That’s what they did for me.”

‘We want dignity and health’

Veterans like Mahon and Cvetic attribute their remarkable progress to Herrle, Blakeley and the rest of the clinical support system at VA Pittsburgh. But there’s another key component they hold in perhaps an even higher regard: their admiration for each other.

“Whole Health is Veterans helping Veterans,” Mahon said. “If you’re going through something, no matter what it may be, whatever ailment you have, whatever problem you may have, someone in that classroom’s been through it and can help you.”

Cvetic agrees. “What I feel when I come here, I feel the warmth of the staff, I feel the camaraderie with the Vets. We don’t want operations, we don’t want money. We want dignity and health, and that’s what Whole Health has given me.”

Whole Health Veteran Stories: Veteran Shares His Journey to Whole Health.

Watch Veteran Tim Mahon share his story.