On Sept. 3, 2023, TriWest Healthcare Alliance (TriWest) celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the start of its support as a third-party administrator for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), supporting Veterans’ access to community care.
“Being part of a company that is charged with ensuring the efficient and timely delivery of quality health care to our Veteran community is what we do. Our Veteran community deserves no less!” – Armon Gaddy, TriWest Congressional Relations Manager
Over the past 10 years, TriWest has provided more than 60 million health care encounters through its network of community health care providers, helping to ensure our nation’s Veterans are receiving the care they need and deserve.
TriWest takes great pride in its mission to do “Whatever It Takes!®” for our nation’s bravest men and women. To honor the 10th anniversary of VA community care, as well as in celebration of Veterans Day, we asked two Veterans who have worked for TriWest for more than 10 years to reflect on their service and ongoing work on behalf of our nation’s Veterans.
A Deep Commitment to Serve Those Who Have Served
Armon Gaddy has served as the manager of TriWest’s Congressional Relations team since 2005, giving him an up-close look at the significance of TriWest’s work over the past decade on behalf of our nation’s Veterans.
“Serving those who served is our sole reason for doing what we do,” Armon said. “Being part of a company that is charged with ensuring the efficient and timely delivery of quality health care to our Veteran community is what we do. Our Veteran community deserves no less!”
Armon has a deep personal connection to the Veteran community he serves, as a Veteran himself and a member of a military family.
“My father served in the U.S Air Force from 1957 to 1967 as a crew chief coordinating maintenance on B-52 bombers,” he shared.
Armon followed in his father’s footsteps and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1980 to 2000. For the last 10 years of his Air Force career, Armon served in the public affairs career field, culminating as the Superintendent of Public Affairs, overseeing his base’s media relations, internal information, community relations and environmental community relations programs. His military service took him from California to South Dakota, and as far away as South Korea and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was deployed with multinational units to enforce the no-fly zone over Iraq.
After a 20-year career in the Air Force, Armon served as a military and Veterans caseworker for the U.S. Senate Majority Leader for four years.
“I had many occasions where I worked with TriWest’s Congressional Relations team to resolve issues for active duty military members, Veterans, military retirees and their families,” Armon said of his time working as a caseworker.
It was during this time that Armon saw firsthand the high level of compassion and care within the TriWest team and its Congressional Relations Director, Glenn Gray. When TriWest needed a Congressional Relations Manager, Armon jumped at the opportunity.
“It was a ‘no brainer’ for me to want to be part of such a stellar team of dedicated professionals,” he said.
Armon’s role at TriWest gives him a chance to see the power of TriWest’s partnerships, which increase the exposure and support given to our nation’s Veterans.
“We serve VA and Congressional staff members who are also charged with supporting the Veteran community,” he noted. “We are all one big team and the partnerships we have been able to cultivate and maintain to that end are extremely gratifying.”
Even after more than 18 years at TriWest, Armon’s passion for what he does and who he serves remains strong. “I cannot think of a community more deserving of our team’s time and effort.”
A Passion for Service From a Young Age
Valerie Juarez, a TriWest Complex Authorization Specialist, is another employee who has dedicated more than a decade to fulfilling TriWest’s mission to do “Whatever It Takes!®” on behalf of our nation’s Veterans.
Valerie Juarez was only a teenager when she realized she wanted to serve her country.
As a high school student in Griffin, Ga., Valerie was passionate about serving her country and becoming a health care professional. Using the delayed entry program, to guarantee the school she most wanted, she enrolled in the Naval School of Dental Assisting and Technology in 1977 and remained in the Navy until her retirement in 1997.
After retiring from the Navy, Valerie knew she wanted to join TriWest, a job that would enable her to continue serving her fellow Veterans. When a job posting came up, she left her work at a private dental practice and jumped at the chance.
“My whole adult life has been dedicated to Veterans and active duty military members,” Valerie said reflecting on her career.
Valerie has been with TriWest for more than 10 years and has witnessed a lot of important growth and development.
“Each new program is new and improved from the last, taking better care of Veterans and providing them with excellent care and service,” she said.
Valerie has worked in most of the production departments with TriWest and through it all, TriWest mottos like “On a Mission to Serve®” are at the forefront of her mind.
“These mottos are the bedrock of our existence and express our devotion to our Veteran community and their care,” she said.
Veterans like Armon and Valerie have continued their service to our country, working to secure high-quality, convenient health care for our nation’s Veterans.
We are grateful to both of them, along with all of our Veteran employees, for their dedication, commitment and sacrifice to our country. It is an honor to serve those who have served, and together, TriWest and VA are working hard to make a difference in the lives of Veterans.