Kirsten Mains MA, CCC/SLP

Kirsten Mains is a health system specialist and project manager for the Veterans Health Administration in the Office of Primary Care (OPC). She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ball State University and has more than 25 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in settings ranging from the NICU to long-term care, from early intervention home health to the ED. She transferred her breadth of experience and passion for collaboration into the leadership realm in the private sector, serving at both the facility and corporate levels. During her time with the Veterans Health Administration, she has continued to serve at the forefront of healthcare innovations, first as the supervisor of SLP at the Richard L. Roudebush VAMC in Indianapolis and now with OPC. As the project manager for the VHA Office of Primary Care’s legislative action team, she has been instrumental in orchestrating and implementing two sections of the PACT Act of 2022 and the exposure-informed care that it has crystallized.