BOWLING GREEN is a city full of veterans and their families who served and sacrificed for their community. Many citizens of Bowling Green have taken up that torch to serve veterans in return. Still, Penny Ritchie, clinic administrator at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic, has done more for veterans.
Ritchie began her nursing career in Northwest Indiana but transferred to Bowling Green 22 years ago to find something better for her children. A few years later, she found herself wanting a change. A position at the local VA hospital seemed like a good fit.
“I had done well over 20 years of hospital care. [I] kind of did my tenure rotation in a lot of different departments, and I felt like I … was at a point in my life where I wanted something different,” Ritchie said. “My husband’s father was a veteran, and I’d seen this position open, and I thought, ‘I would love to do that. I would love to be involved with our veterans,’ although I knew nothing about what it was going to be and how I was going to do it.”
She began her journey in June 2014, knowing very little about veterans and what they went through. That soon changed, and with it came a drive to improve things for those veterans.
“Sitting with them, hearing the stories, the heartbreaks, the triumphs, it just motivated me to become more involved,” Ritchie said. “They had gone through so many trials and tribulations that they deserved something more than I felt we were even giving.”
The clinic was providing outstanding care, but Ritchie felt it could be more personable. To that end, she started a “wall of honor” with pictures of veterans and things they are proud of, as well as a “news wall” to honor those veterans who are focused on community service.
“Having them come into the clinic and see that the clinic is part of their home is also very important to me,” Ritchie said. “To watch our veterans walk down the hall and see their comrades and the respect and love that they give towards that wall is amazing.”
Outside of the clinic walls, Ritchie started a clothing drive, which eventually grew into a clothing store, now run by the Kentucky Veterans Brigade. She started a veterans appreciation cookout, which has grown from 500 veterans and their families in 2018 to over 1,500 in past years. Ritchie also makes an effort to attend veterans outreach events, whether it’s Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, or elsewhere, to learn the community’s needs. At the clinic, she has created a veterans council to work toward addressing any needs that come up.
“I learn the needs so that I can help address those needs,” Ritchie said. “I go every month to the American Legion to be a part of that family so that I can hear any needs that they have, what they’re expecting of us, and what we’re not meeting in their expectations.”
The results of her efforts have come in many forms. The clinic has continued to grow from 1,500 veterans and two providers when it first opened in 2014 to over 4,400 veterans and four providers. More importantly, however, the culture has changed.
“Now, those veterans come in, and they know us by name,” Ritchie said. “It’s not an ‘I’m here for my appointment,’ it’s ‘Hi, how are you doing? I didn’t see you last week.’ It’s more of a family feeling.”
Ritchie said the clinic plans to continue partnering with veterans and the community to support and honor veterans. She hopes the clinic will grow until it can be a full-service clinic someday. In addition, she hopes to make all veterans feel warm and welcome in Bowling Green.
“Make sure that no veteran is out on the street, that every veteran gets a home, and every veteran has the health care that they deserve — those are the things that I want to see accomplished,” Ritchie said. “It’s a long laundry list, [and] you just have to tackle it one thing at a time. But with the clothing store and the housing, hopefully, we can get there someday.” GN
