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Shaw named as new county veterans service officer

Shaw named as new county veterans service officer Shaw named as new county veterans service officer

Shellie Shaw is the new Taylor County Veterans Service Officer.

Shaw takes over for Jeff Hein who announced his retirement plans earlier this year after six years of serving the area’s veterans. Hein is working with Shaw during her transition to the office. Shaw was selected from a competitive pool of candidates and was formally elected to the position by the county board on Tuesday morning.

Shaw brings with her a 4-year active duty and 6-year military career where she earned the rank of major. She and her husband, Greg who serves as the chief financial officer at Aspirus Medford Hospital, moved to the area about six years ago and operate a hobby farm raising sheep. They have five grown children.

Shaw attended college to be a dietitian and applied for the Army dietetic internship in 1995. She was a direct commission, graduated from Officer Basic Course at Fort Sam Houston, and went on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for her dietetic internship. She served at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and at Fort Irwin, California. Leaving active duty she continued as a reservist in Missouri serving until 2006. While in the reserves she worked in operations and training and was the unit trainer. Throughout her career she worked as a registered dietitian working with inpatient rehabilitation, cancer center, critical care, and diabetes programs. She has experience in both outpatient and inpatient settings and working with community nutrition programs.

Shaw is hoping that her extensive military medical background will be a benefit to the veterans she serves in Taylor County. “So many of the benefits the vets come in for are health related,” she said. “This is where 25 years of being in healthcare field will help me.”

Shaw noted that serving in the military is physically demanding. “It is pretty tough,” she said. As a result of the physical pounding people receive in the military, many veterans have ongoing disabilities of some level.

Shaw said that she always enjoyed the work she did in the Army hospitals and liked interacting with the veterans and their dependents. As a dietitian she would often work with military retirees and their family members, and she looks forward to serving veterans again.

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