Dr. RimaAnn O. Nelson is the Executive Director of Connected Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Connected Care, where she leads efforts to expand virtual care, remote patient monitoring, and digital health technologies that connect Veterans to the care they need regardless of geography.

A career VA executive, Dr. Nelson brings deep experience across health care operations, clinical systems, enterprise transformation, population health, interagency collaboration, and global health program management. She is a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, one of the highest honors for members of the Senior Executive Service.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Nelson served as the Executive Director of Indo-Pacific Veterans Affairs, based at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, where she led the VA Outpatient Clinic and Regional Office. She worked closely with partners across VA and other federal agencies, as well as international stakeholders, to deliver health care and benefits to Veterans throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

Dr. Nelson previously served as Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations, leading a workforce of approximately 365,000 employees serving more than 9 million Veterans across more than 170 medical centers and 1,100 outpatient sites nationwide.

She also served as Network Director for VISN 10, managing care for more than 685,000 Veterans across multiple states. Her prior roles include Medical Center Director for the VA Phoenix Health Care System and the VA St. Louis Healthcare System and Regional Director of the VA Regional Office in Manila. She began her VA career at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System.