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Sandra Llecholech is the new chief of mental health services for the VA Roseburg Healthcare System.
Being a psychiatric nurse was a calling, says Sandra Llecholech, the new chief of mental health at the VA Roseburg Healthcare System.
She realized that 25 years ago when she got into the field.
“I really saw it as such an underrecognized and underappreciated area of nursing,” Llecholech said. “There was a stigma attached to mental illness.
“I'm a real advocate of mental health,” she continued. “I want to make people whole and to be the best listener I can be, to be a sounding board for people's problems.”
Running mental health programs for the VA Roseburg Healthcare System is Llecholech's latest assignment in that crusade. The system includes the Roseburg VA Medical Center and outpatient clinics in Eugene, North Bend, Brookings and Crescent City, Calif.
A former colleague of Llecholech's said the VA facility is lucky to have recruited her.
“She's a very genuine, caring, engaged person who really cares about her staff and the patients,” said Dr. Nicolaas Van Nieuwenhuysen, who worked alongside Llecholech in the psychiatric inpatient unit at a VA hospital in Loma Linda, Calif. He praised her professionalism and expertise.
Llecholech (pronounced Lay-o-la) was born in Jamaica. At age 16, she moved with her Jamaican mother, Hong Kong-born father, sister and brother to Southern California.
“I'm blended,” she said with a smile, and what lingers of her lilting Jamaican accent.
Llecholech, 49, started pursuing her career by earning a two-year degree in nursing, a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in nursing administration.
She worked for five years in a hospital as a nurse. She then spent 11 years as director of nursing and then as an administrator at acute psychiatric facilities in California.
Llecholech then spent five years working for a company that specializes in long-term facilities for the chronically mentally ill. She ensured the facilities complied with regulations. Most recently, she was the manager for mental health at the VA hospital in Loma Linda.
She said she decided to head north because she had “heard wonderful things about Roseburg.” She also wanted to escape the smoggy, hot weather and hustle bustle of Southern California.
Llecholech said Roseburg has met, and gone above, her expectations. She said she likes the cooler weather, friendly people and small-town atmosphere.
From a professional level, she said she also was drawn here by the “the buffet of (special) services” the VA Healthcare System offers to veterans with mental health problems.
The services range from programs to help returning and homeless vets to residential programs for those who struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. She started the job March 1.
Llecholech said she hopes to help make those services “exceed the expectations of all veterans.” She said she also wants to integrate mental health services with other services the VA offers, such as primary care.
When she's not working, Llecholech said she likes to travel with her husband, Sabino. Favorite traveling destinations include Hawaii, Sandra's native Jamaica and Sabino's native Palau, a South Pacific island.
On weekends, they take trips to local sights such as Crater Lake. Although she said she hates to admit it, Llecholech also relaxes by reading “trashy” romance novels.
She also has a daughter, Rebecca, 25, who works full time at a Starbucks in Southern California. “She's one of those permanent students,” Sandra Llecholech added, with a warm laugh.
For the foreseeable future, Llecholech said she plans to stay rooted at the VA Roseburg Healthcare System.
“I'm happy just to be here,” she said. “I want to really do the best job I can.”
She said she hopes to help make her department one where veterans “know how much truly the mental health team really cares about everyone.”
“If there's a need, we're going to be there for them. We have to be there for them.”
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 541-957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
She realized that 25 years ago when she got into the field.
“I really saw it as such an underrecognized and underappreciated area of nursing,” Llecholech said. “There was a stigma attached to mental illness.
“I'm a real advocate of mental health,” she continued. “I want to make people whole and to be the best listener I can be, to be a sounding board for people's problems.”
Running mental health programs for the VA Roseburg Healthcare System is Llecholech's latest assignment in that crusade. The system includes the Roseburg VA Medical Center and outpatient clinics in Eugene, North Bend, Brookings and Crescent City, Calif.
A former colleague of Llecholech's said the VA facility is lucky to have recruited her.
“She's a very genuine, caring, engaged person who really cares about her staff and the patients,” said Dr. Nicolaas Van Nieuwenhuysen, who worked alongside Llecholech in the psychiatric inpatient unit at a VA hospital in Loma Linda, Calif. He praised her professionalism and expertise.
Llecholech (pronounced Lay-o-la) was born in Jamaica. At age 16, she moved with her Jamaican mother, Hong Kong-born father, sister and brother to Southern California.
“I'm blended,” she said with a smile, and what lingers of her lilting Jamaican accent.
Llecholech, 49, started pursuing her career by earning a two-year degree in nursing, a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in nursing administration.
She worked for five years in a hospital as a nurse. She then spent 11 years as director of nursing and then as an administrator at acute psychiatric facilities in California.
Llecholech then spent five years working for a company that specializes in long-term facilities for the chronically mentally ill. She ensured the facilities complied with regulations. Most recently, she was the manager for mental health at the VA hospital in Loma Linda.
She said she decided to head north because she had “heard wonderful things about Roseburg.” She also wanted to escape the smoggy, hot weather and hustle bustle of Southern California.
Llecholech said Roseburg has met, and gone above, her expectations. She said she likes the cooler weather, friendly people and small-town atmosphere.
From a professional level, she said she also was drawn here by the “the buffet of (special) services” the VA Healthcare System offers to veterans with mental health problems.
The services range from programs to help returning and homeless vets to residential programs for those who struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. She started the job March 1.
Llecholech said she hopes to help make those services “exceed the expectations of all veterans.” She said she also wants to integrate mental health services with other services the VA offers, such as primary care.
When she's not working, Llecholech said she likes to travel with her husband, Sabino. Favorite traveling destinations include Hawaii, Sandra's native Jamaica and Sabino's native Palau, a South Pacific island.
On weekends, they take trips to local sights such as Crater Lake. Although she said she hates to admit it, Llecholech also relaxes by reading “trashy” romance novels.
She also has a daughter, Rebecca, 25, who works full time at a Starbucks in Southern California. “She's one of those permanent students,” Sandra Llecholech added, with a warm laugh.
For the foreseeable future, Llecholech said she plans to stay rooted at the VA Roseburg Healthcare System.
“I'm happy just to be here,” she said. “I want to really do the best job I can.”
She said she hopes to help make her department one where veterans “know how much truly the mental health team really cares about everyone.”
“If there's a need, we're going to be there for them. We have to be there for them.”
• You can reach reporter Kathy Korengel at 541-957-4218 or by e-mail at kkorengel@nrtoday.com.
