By Camille D. Ford | November 2025
Summary
Lynn Daugherty, Women’s Health Program Manager at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, brings over 30 years of nursing experience and a trauma-informed approach to leading one of the fastest-growing women’s veteran populations in the VA system. After spending her career in perinatal services and nursing leadership in the private sector, she joined TVHS two years ago to oversee comprehensive care for 16,613 enrolled women veterans. Under her leadership, the program has doubled in size from five to ten staff members, launched pelvic floor therapy services, expanded maternity care coordination to serve over 465 pregnant and postpartum veterans annually, and achieved a 90% trust score among women veterans, far exceeding private sector benchmarks of 38% to 65%. Her team provides services ranging from fertility evaluations and in vitro fertilization to mobile mammography, contraception clinics, and community baby showers that build lasting relationships among women veterans.
Lynn Daugherty remembers the moment everything changed. As a nursing student, she’d been assigned to the operating room rotation and found it boring. Her nursing instructor sent her to the neonatal intensive care unit instead. She wasn’t thrilled about that either.
“I got there and 10 minutes later, that was my calling,” she recalls. “That was my calling. Absolutely. I fell in love with those little humans and that was it for me.”
That was over 30 years ago. For three decades, Daugherty worked in perinatal services, caring for mothers and infants, eventually becoming a nursing director over large nursing centers. Then, living in Prescott, Arizona, she saw a posting for a Women’s Health Program Manager position at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System.
“I dug in a little bit, did some investigation of what that might look like, and I was intrigued,” she says. “I felt very honored that at this point in my career, I can give all of my attention to caring for women veterans. I felt like it was a privileged position that just opened up.”
She applied, got the call, accepted the offer. Two years later, she’s leading one of the most comprehensive women’s health programs in the VA system, serving 16,613 enrolled women veterans and counting.
What Happened to You
About a year or two before taking the position, Daugherty read a book that fundamentally changed how she approaches health care. The book was “What Happened to You” by Dr. Bruce Perry.
“For years in the medical profession, you hear health care providers, physicians, nursing, all kinds of providers, when you have a patient that you’re working with that may be a little ornery or not in a great mood or disruptive or even violent, your reaction is to say what’s wrong with you?” she explains. “That’s your natural reaction. Or what’s wrong with her? What is wrong with him?”
The book’s title alone rewired her thinking.
“The question is not what’s wrong with you. It’s what’s happened to you to bring you to this place, this moment in time in your life,” Daugherty says. “And that was a total 180 for me after this long nursing career. Because the question is, what’s happened to you to bring you to this place?”
That shift in perspective became especially profound when she arrived at VA and confronted the scope of military sexual trauma among women veterans.
“Working with women all of my nursing career, trauma-informed care, history of working with women with PTSD, having sexual violence in their past, I worked with women that have gone through some significant traumas,” she says. “But coming here to VA, I think the public knows about military sexual trauma, but it’s made a profound impact on me being able to grasp how large of a problem it is and how many of our women veterans have experienced military sexual trauma, and the impact that has had on their lives. It’s been very profound for me.”
The statistics are staggering. “Statistically, one out of four women in the private sector have had some significant trauma in their lives, but in the military, I believe that’s much higher,” Daugherty notes. “And that was almost shocking to me. Still is relatively shocking to me.”
That lens of asking what happened to you, rather than what’s wrong with you, now permeates everything her program does. “Looking at health care through that lens has really, really changed everything,” she says. “And then being able to build a team that also looks at health care, services for women veterans, through that same lens.”
A Program That Needed to Catch Up
When Daugherty arrived, the Women’s Health Program was established but struggling to keep pace with Tennessee Valley’s explosive growth in women veteran enrollments.
“We have had such a rapid growth in our enrollees of women veterans here at Tennessee Valley,” she explains. “It was an established program, but it needed to catch up to the growth that we’ve had.”
The numbers tell the story. TVHS currently serves 16,613 women veterans, and that number is climbing. “We anticipate in the next three years, we’ll probably be sitting at 20,000 enrollees for Tennessee Valley,” Daugherty says.
When she started, the program had five people. Now it has 10. “We blew it up,” she says. “We had to because of our growth.”
This past fiscal year, the program received special purpose funding through the Office of Women’s Health nationally to expand staffing and services. They brought on a full-time women’s health pharmacist who does pharmacy consultations, offers contraception on demand, and consults with providers on pharmaceutical needs for women veterans. They hired a full-time women’s health psychologist to oversee and expand mental health services. They added two more maternity care coordinators, bringing the total to four. They launched a female pelvic floor therapy team, hiring two therapists, one for Nashville and Clarksville, one for Murfreesboro.
“We’ve not been able to offer that valuable service to our veterans before,” Daugherty says about the pelvic floor therapy. “That’s new for TVHS.”
Maternity Care That Shocks People
One of the services that surprises people most is the maternity care coordination program.
“I think I hear all the time, people are shocked at the maternity care coordination services that we offer,” Daugherty says.
The numbers are substantial. “Just this last year, our maternity care coordinators worked with, I think the count at the fiscal year was like 465 pregnant and postpartum women,” she reports. “Just in Tennessee Valley Healthcare System.”
VA doesn’t perform obstetrical care internally. All of that happens in the community. What TVHS does is coordinate that care comprehensively.
“It is doing that maternity care coordination, being able to coordinate that care between their VA primary care provider, their obstetrical provider in the community, following up every month or two on a consistent basis all during pregnancy,” Daugherty explains. “And we also follow them for a full 12 months after they have their baby to be able to meet whatever need that they have during that postpartum phase.”
The follow-up goes beyond physical health. “We also do what we call a comprehensive psychosocial assessment, so it’s not only the physical condition of pregnancy and postpartum,” she says. “It’s also, how is that affecting them from a psychosocial level? We do an assessment, a needs assessment on all of their social determinants of health. Nutritional, food services, financial, if they have any financial needs, resources.”
Life changes during pregnancy, Daugherty notes. Women may suffer loss of the pregnancy. They may suffer loss of a loved one. Break up of a relationship. “Those needs change and our maternity care coordinators are their partner during that journey,” she says.
Fertility Services Most Don’t Know About
Another service that surprises people is the fertility program.
“I do think that VA offers a lot of infertility services as well,” Daugherty says. “Veterans that suffer from infertility, we have two different directives that kind of drive that care for our veterans. We offer fertility evaluations all the way up to and including in vitro fertilization if they meet specific eligibility requirements.”
Her team reviews all fertility benefit claims through an interdisciplinary team with multiple subject matter experts. “Our goal is to be able to look at their medical record and work with the veterans to make sure that they get all of those benefits for fertility services that they’re entitled to,” she explains.
The knowledge gap extends even to VA providers. “I was able to do a grand round with all of our primary care providers. We have 160 primary care providers that are staffed plus residents, and they know very little about our fertility,” Daugherty says. “It’s just not their area of expertise within VA. So, we serve as that resource and as subject matter experts to all of our primary care team and our specialty services as well, because they know very little about that. And rightly so, it’s not their area of expertise. It’s fertility work.”
Breast Care Navigation
The program also includes a mammography care navigator who tracks every mammogram completed within TVHS or through community care.
“That person, that role is intended, it’s more of a preventative care,” Daugherty explains. “We look at mammography screening as a screening tool for breast cancer. And so they track every mammography that’s completed, either in our Nashville or Murfreesboro mammography radiology services, or if it’s done through care in the community. So, they look at every single report. Is it normal? Was the patient notified of the normal? If they were not, was the provider notified? If abnormal, is the care appropriate, and is follow-up being completed?”
The volume is significant. “You’re looking at probably 200 mammograms a month that our coordinator looks at,” Daugherty says. “But we want to make sure that none of our veterans are missed.”
For veterans living far from Nashville or Murfreesboro, the program partners with Catholic Health Initiatives and Erlanger to bring mobile mammography buses to community-based outpatient centers.
“We know that our veterans would much rather get their care with us within VA, but it’s not feasible to have a mammography device at all of our community-based outpatient centers just because volumes are so low,” Daugherty explains. “So, how can we be innovative? We’ve been able to do that by partnering with them to bring their mobile mammography clinics to our outpatient VA clinics so that our women have access, that live at a great distance from Nashville or Murfreesboro.”
Maintaining Quality Through Training
The program’s approach to ensuring quality care is unique within VA’s system. Dr. Gina Payton, the clinical nurse educator who recently earned her DNP in September, and Kham Sanvath, the gynecologist and cervical care coordinator, maintain competencies for all nursing and provider teams.
“Kham tracks all of our paps and cytology reports,” Daugherty explains. “Every pap and cytology report or pap test we do within Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Kham Sanvath tracks all of that to make sure that if it’s normal, the patient’s notified that it’s normal. If it’s not normal, she collaborates with the provider to make sure that the treatment plan is appropriate for follow-up care or any further diagnostics that are needed.”
Dr. Payton and Kham Sanvath together train staff to maintain their women’s health designated designation status. “Meaning they have been trained and are competent to be able to deliver the care to women veterans, that comprehensive health care to our women veterans, and that is comprehensive primary care, which includes their well women exams,” Daugherty says. “And that’s unique to Tennessee Valley.”
Baby Showers That Build Community
Some of the most profound moments happen outside clinical settings. The program hosts baby showers for pregnant veterans, four or five since Daugherty arrived.
“The best thing that comes out of these is the relationships that we develop with our veterans who come to our baby showers,” she says. “We’re honored to be able to give them and help make their needs to start that family.”
The items they provide are substantial: full-size cribs and mattresses, car seats, pack-and-plays, diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers, clothes. “We had five pallets of donated items that we hauled up to Clarksville for their baby shower last May,” Daugherty recalls. “And the looks on their faces when they walked into the room where we took them on a shopping spree was irreplaceable. They’re so humbled about it. They’re just so humbled. They’re not grabby and greedy at all.”
But what happens next is what Daugherty and her team treasure most.
“We usually serve them lunch, they sit down. We have a seating area. They all sit down and everybody’s eating by themselves, or they might have siblings, other children there,” she describes. “And within a few minutes, it’s remarkable to watch. They’ll start talking to each other, and another one will join in, and another one. Pretty soon they’re giggling and laughing, and the children are playing together. Then they’re sharing phone numbers, they’re sharing pictures.”
A community forms right before their eyes. “They built a community at these baby showers,” Daugherty says. “And for myself and my team, we just sit back and watch that unfold. We don’t have to do anything but feed them. That alone makes that day worth the work and effort that’s put into the baby showers. That makes it so worth it. And I know that they develop lasting relationships with fellow veterans.”
Listening to Close Gaps
The program holds focus groups mandated by the Deborah Sampson Act to hear directly from women veterans. One coming up in December will join others held on various topics.
“We hold them for a variety of topics,” Daugherty explains. “They last no longer than an hour. We usually have crafted questions that we ask them. One question we’re mandated to ask is, have they ever experienced sexual harassment within VA, because we do want to know that.”
The real value is discovering what’s working and what’s not. “I look at the focus groups as really trying to find out what we’re doing well, what we’re not doing well, and what are we missing,” she says. “We take back those what we call gaps in care when we do discover what we’re not doing well or areas that we’re missing, and then that becomes incorporated into our planning of places we need to work on.”
She also does service recovery when care doesn’t go well. “My name, my position is published. Veterans can contact me on my phone, email, and they do, to be able to help navigate when they’re having challenges within the VA,” Daugherty says. “And that’s also my role, because I’m their advocate.”
The Trust Score That Tells Everything
When asked which metrics matter most, Daugherty points to trust.
“We keep a really close eye on our trust score,” she says. “Out of all of the patient experience surveys that get sent out, I feel like that trust score, to me, that’s one of the most important. Do our women feel, do they trust us to care for them?”
The numbers are remarkable. “Our overall trust among our women veterans is at 90%, which is incredibly high, because nationally, when you look at the private sector for women as a whole, it’s not nearly 90%,” Daugherty reports. “From what I’ve seen, it’s been anywhere from 38% up to the mid 60s.”
That 90% speaks volumes about what the program has built.
Still a Man’s Healthcare System
Despite progress, Daugherty acknowledges the challenges that remain.
“We’ve come a long way in the care for women veterans here at VA,” she says. “VA has been caring for women for over 100 years, and we still have a long way to go, because in many ways, it is thought of as a man’s health care system.”
She hears it from veterans directly. A medical assistant calls into a waiting room asking for “Mr. Daugherty.” But there is no Mr. Daugherty. There might be a Miss Daugherty.
“If we ever get to a place that the veterans are addressed by veteran Daugherty, and the Mr. and Miss is gone, to me, that’s equitable, fair, and demonstrates equality,” Daugherty says. “Because we see that, I hear that from veterans, from women veterans, that they feel oftentimes that makes them feel dismissed, undervalued. Or they’re shocked when they stand up. Oh yeah, you’re a woman. And it’s still, even 2025, soon to be 2026, that’s still occurring.”
The program ensures care for all veterans regardless of how they identify. “Whatever their needs are, we care for them,” Daugherty emphasizes. “If VA is unable to deliver that care within VA, then we assist that veteran to obtain that care in the community. Absolutely. Unequivocally. Yes.”
Expanding Gynecological Services
Looking ahead, Daugherty is focused on expanding gynecological services. The VA will likely never do obstetrical services internally because volumes are too low to maintain high competency, but gynecological services absolutely can be brought in-house.
“Nationally, there are what we call obstetric and gynecological deserts out there, meaning that there’s just not enough providers out in the community,” she explains. “We do struggle with that at times for obstetric care. Sometimes our women, it’s a little bit of a challenge getting them to an obstetrical provider in a timely manner just because we need more.”
The program launched a LARC clinic, long-acting reversible contraception, offering IUDs and implantable hormonal devices to prevent pregnancy. They started in Clarksville, their highest populated area for women veterans.
“We want to be able to expand that to Nashville and Murfreesboro and Chattanooga because we find our women have very difficult time obtaining those services in the community for a variety of reasons,” Daugherty says. “So, we need to be able to do that here in VA and do that better than they do it in the community. That can happen.”
The Role of Telehealth
Technology and telehealth have enhanced care delivery, especially for rural veterans.
“There’s something to be said though in still continuing and promoting the face-to-face,” Daugherty notes. “You do need to have that. You need a physical assessment to be able to touch your patient, listen with a stethoscope, take the blood pressure. You need that. Absolutely.”
But telehealth has opened new possibilities. “I think that the age of telehealth, and I believe we kind of learned that through COVID because we had to do it remotely, that we discovered this whole new world of telehealth medicine,” she says. “And it’s wonderful. We can deliver this care. You don’t have to do a face-to-face every time you need to see a provider. You can do this via telehealth.”
She sees opportunities to expand home care services for aging populations and those with disabilities who can’t easily travel to facilities. “We do do that, but I think we may have an opportunity to do that on a larger scale eventually,” she says.
One Sentence Mission
Asked to summarize her mission in one sentence, Daugherty pauses.
“I want to be able to ensure that care is equitable and high quality, comprehensive health care that meets the needs for women veterans across their lifespan,” she says. “So, we’re talking 20s all the way to centenarians that are over 100.”
The population TVHS serves ranges from early 20s into the 90s. “Those needs change as they move from this age group to this age group to this age group, and we need to be able to meet those needs whenever they may be from young to geriatric care,” Daugherty explains. “And we need to be able to do that very well.”
What Veterans Day Means
When asked what Veterans Day means to her personally, Daugherty doesn’t hesitate.
“I feel honored that I get to serve those who served, and I enjoy the freedoms in my life today and all the opportunities that I had because veterans have served and given their life over and over and over,” she says. “I am not a veteran. I am married to a veteran. I have veterans in my family, and I’m deeply honored to be able to serve those who have served our country.”
It’s personal for her. “I get to enjoy the freedoms we have today because they did what they did and they sacrificed what they did. Everything that they have done. And that’s what Veterans Day means. That’s what it means to me.”
For the 16,613 women veterans enrolled at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, and the thousands more to come, having a program manager who asks “what happened to you” instead of “what’s wrong with you,” who builds teams with the same trauma-informed philosophy, and who measures success by trust, means they’re receiving care that sees them as whole human beings across their entire lifespan. For the women who served, it matters that someone finally sees the whole story.
Resources for Veterans & Healthcare Professionals
VA Healthcare & Patient Care Services
- VA Health Care Enrollment: How To Apply For VA Health Care | Veterans Affairs
- My HealtheVet: Home – My HealtheVet – My HealtheVet
- Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 | Text 838255
Women’s Health Services
- VA Women’s Health: Women Veterans Health Care Home
- Maternity Care Coordination: Available at all TVHS locations
- Mobile Mammography Services: Contact your local TVHS clinic
Mental Health & Wellness Support
- Vet Centers: Find VA Locations | Veterans Affairs
- National Center for PTSD: PTSD: National Center for PTSD Home
- Military Sexual Trauma Support: Military Sexual Trauma (MST) | Veterans Affairs
Fertility & Reproductive Health
- VA Fertility Services: Contact Women’s Health Program for eligibility
- LARC Clinics: Available at Clarksville, expanding to Nashville, Murfreesboro, and Chattanooga
VA Careers & Employment
- VA Careers: VA Careers
- Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Careers: Work With Us | VA Tennessee Valley Health Care | Veterans Affairs
Connect with Tennessee Valley Healthcare System
- Tennessee Valley Healthcare System: VA Tennessee Valley Health Care | Veterans Affairs
- Women’s Health Program: Contact through main TVHS line
About Lynn Daugherty
Lynn Daugherty serves as Women’s Health Program Manager at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, bringing over 30 years of nursing experience in perinatal services and health care leadership. After working as a nursing director in the private sector, she joined TVHS two years ago to oversee comprehensive care for women veterans. Under her leadership, the program has doubled its staff, launched pelvic floor therapy services, expanded maternity care coordination, and achieved a 90% trust score among women veterans. Her trauma-informed approach, shaped by the philosophy of asking “what happened to you” rather than “what’s wrong with you,” guides every aspect of the program’s mission to deliver equitable, high-quality health care to women veterans across their lifespan.
Veteran Excellence Magazine celebrates outstanding leadership in veteran healthcare and services.