National VA Voluntary Service Award goes to Asheville VA employee

CHARLES GEORGE VA MEDICAL CENTER, Asheville – Darlene Laughter, chief of CGVAMC Voluntary Service, was recently awarded the VA Voluntary Service Award for Excellence in a ceremony held in Cary, N.C.  Laughter’s award is based on her accomplishments in leading change, building coalitions, her business acumen and demonstrated customer service.

The VA noted that Laughter had excelled in leading change and in business acumen.  She developed, and has been the primary coordinator for a new program that arranges off campus lodging in local hotels for eligible Veterans receiving outpatient treatments.  During Fiscal Year 2013 (Oct.1, 2012 – Sept. 30, 2013) 1,369 Veterans were lodged for 1,692 nights in hotels at a cost of $65 a night for a grand total of $109,980.  The daily cost of a hospital bed is about $2,600.  If the Veterans had stayed overnight in the hospital it would have cost $4,399,200.   The lodging program ensures that the medical center has more beds available for serious ill patients and reduces the number of days when new patients could not be admitted due to a high patient census.

Laughter developed and implemented the Butterfly Wish program that uses private donations to grant the last wishes of Veterans who are receiving hospice or palliative care.

Her business acumen was also demonstrated by her development of a wheelchair management program and the local Volunteer Transportation Network (VTN).  Wheelchairs are now kept in a central location and managed throughout the day by her volunteer staff.  Veterans who need wheelchairs rarely have to do without one thanks to her staff’s management.

The VTN is a group of volunteer drivers who transport Veterans from primarily rural locations in vans that have been donated to the medical center by the Disabled American Veterans.

Laughter is one of the most frequent public speakers on behalf of the medical center.  She speaks to dozens of Veterans service organizations, church and civic groups every year.  She also chairs the quarterly meeting of the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs County Service Officers and serves as the liaison for a local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter by managing logistics for their monthly meetings and arranging for special monthly presentations.

Laughter also serves as the Voluntary Service Liaison for eight VA medical centers in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, and as a preceptor for the Technical Career Field Intern Program.