My Life, My Story began in 2013 at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, WI, with a simple idea to honor Veterans and improve their care experience by providing VA care teams with the story of each Veteran's life, in his or her own words.

Thor Ringler, Writer-Editor for the My Life, My Story project, submitted the innovation to the 2016 Employee Innovation Competition and was one of 17 projects invited to participate in VA's 2016 Innovator Boot Camp, a two-day event sponsored by the VHA Innovation Program.

"I see it as a way of honoring the person who is here at the hospital and saying 'you are important and who you are is important to us,'" Ringler said. "Asking Veterans to share their story lets them know that we want to know who they are as a person, too."

Read the full story of how Ringler and other VA staff help personalize care for Veterans on the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital website.