Tampa VA leader recognized as Trailblazer in Health Care Technology Innovation

James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital (JAHVH) Chief of Innovation Dr. Indra Sandal was awarded the Federal Excellence in Healthcare Management Award as part of the 29^th annual Joint Federal Sector Awards.

Announced at the American College of Healthcare Executive (ACHE) 2025 Congress in Houston, TX, from March 23-28, the award highlights federal health care leaders who demonstrate exceptional leadership, mentorship, ethical standards, and a commitment to professional and community development in health care management.

Excellence in VA Leadership and Innovation

In 2022, Dr. Sandal launched the VHA-Uber Health Connect Initiative (VUHC), delivering rideshare services as a transportation option for Veterans to increase their access to care. Since its launch, VUHC facilitated more than 450,000 rides for 50,000 Veterans across 101 VA Medical Centers, ultimately saving VA over $250 million.

Dr. Sandal is also the founder of the Veterans Health Venture Studio, a series of programs powered by Microsoft artificial intelligence (AI) technology to develop cutting-edge health care solutions from concept to implementation within VA’s health care system.

The Veterans Health – MIT Hacking Medicine Hackathon—a collaborative effort among MIT Hacking Medicine, Microsoft and Veterans Health Administration—brought together more than 300 innovators, scientists, doctors, nurses, engineers, researchers and health care futurists to solve problems using artificial intelligence tools.

The event produced 17 teams with promising AI-driven solutions addressing key VA priorities, including faster access to care, suicide prevention and VA hiring processes. These teams then advanced to the Make-a-thon where they underwent a combination of innovation curriculum and participated in a two-day, in-person bootcamp. Eight of these teams will now develop functional prototypes with Microsoft experts during the 6-month Accelerator phase, which ends with an in-person showcase July 30-31 in Tampa, FL.

AI Innovation in health care

At the ACHE 2025 Congress, Dr. Sandal also led a Technology and Information Management session titled “Harnessing AI in Healthcare: Veterans Health-MIT Hacking Medicine Powered by Public-Private Partnership,” which explored how public-private collaborations like the Veterans Health-MIT Hacking Medicine Hackathon is revolutionizing health care. Panelists included:

• Dr. Indra Sandal, PhD, MBA – Chief of Innovation, James A. Haley VA Hospital.
• Gregory Goins, MBA, FACHE – Network Director, VA MidSouth Healthcare Network.
• Freddy Nguyen, MD, PhD – Former Co-Director, MIT Hacking Medicine.
• David Rhew, MD – Chief Medical Officer, Microsoft.

Dr. Sandal’s panel was one of the 200 sessions and one in seven VA-focused sessions during the main ACHE event. The panel helped attendees understand how artificial intelligence can be applied to the health care sector as well as learn methods for transforming AI concepts into functional and transformational health care innovations.

During the panel’s Q&A, attendees expressed a deep interest in the importance and unique model of public-private partnerships to produce innovative programs like the Veterans Health – MIT hacking Medicine.

“Public-private partnerships are an excellent way to accelerate health care innovation while drawing upon diverse experiences and resources that push the boundaries of what is possible. Our hope is that this model can serve as a pipeline for innovation at any organization,” Dr. Sandal shared.

Winning ideas from the Veterans Health – MIT Hacking Medicine were selected for further development during a subsequent Make-a-thon and Accelerator, illustrating a successful pathway from ideation to implementation.