Christopher Saslo

Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Patient Care Services; Chief Nursing Officer Department of Veterans Affairs

Dr. M. Christopher Saslo assumed the role of Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer (AUHS-PCS/CNO) on October 9, 2022. In this role he serves in as principal executive for oversight of Nursing, Social Work, Caregiver Support, Connected Care, Pharmacy, Sterile Processing, Geriatrics and Extended Care, Population Health, Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, Physician Assistants, and Rehabilitation and Prosthetics. Dr. Saslo served as the Acting AUSH-PCS/CNO, July 2022 thru October 2022 and prior to that as the Acting Senior Advisor to the AUSH-PCS/CNO from January 2022 thru June 2022. He has served as Associate Director for Patient Care Services at Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System since 2014. Dr. Saslo has served as Interim Director from June 2017 to January 2018 and as acting Deputy Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health: Clinical Operations from October 2018 thru May 2019. In his role as ADPCS, Dr. Saslo has oversight for Inpatient and Outpatient Nursing service as well as the Office of Social Work, Sterile Processing, Clinical Informatics, Food & Nutrition and Chaplain Services. Dr. Saslo has been a Nurse for more than 37 years and has served VHA for more than 27 years. Chris has worked in areas including Ambulatory Care as both Nurse Practitioner and Program Manager, Medicine Service in the HIV and Hepatology clinics and Associate Chief Nurse for Clinical Practice in Nursing. Dr. Saslo has served as the Past President for the Florida Nurse Practitioner Network and the local NP Council of Palm Beach County. Dr. Saslo holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Marywood University in Scranton, PA, his Masters from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA, and a Doctorate in Nursing from Florida Atlantic University. He has been actively involved at local and national levels including the past Chair of the National Ethics Advisory for HIV/Hep C Clinical Case Registry.

Conference Day One: July 23, 2024

9:15 AM OVERVIEW OF SECRETARY’S GOALS AND THE FUTURE OF THE VA

  • Overview of how the VA is approaching how best to support nurses across VAMCs, along with integrating feedback from nurses on how best to approach care challenges, burnout and other factors on the job 
  • Expanding communication across and between providers so that veterans can receive quality care 
  • Increased focus on patient centered care across the VHA 

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Christopher.

Download The Latest Agenda