VA Puget Sound Health Care System

Thomas Bundt PhD, FACHE

Executive Director

Thomas Bundt was appointed VA Puget Sound Health Care System executive director October 24, 2022. Dr. Bundt previously served as acting executive director since April 8, 2022 and deputy executive director since September 12, 2021. Prior to joining VA Puget Sound, he was principal deputy to the assistant director for management as well as the corporate acquisition executive at the Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia. As a combat Veteran and experienced health care executive, Dr. Bundt brings a practiced set of skills to support the VA mission, enable the staff and sustain future integrated health care delivery operations. He is a retired U.S Army colonel and combat Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom with over 30 years of progressive leadership experience culminating in senior health care executive roles. His assignments included multiple brigade and battalion level commands, deployments, interagency postings, academic institutions, bio-containment research and units within Combat Arms and Combat Support formations. In the last few decades, Dr. Bundt led complex enterprises from multi-discipline and graduate education training organizations and remote multi-specialty ambulatory health care delivery systems to a biocontainment (level IV) research institute and a level II trauma academic medical center. His leadership of the latter culminated with his role as the first market director for the DHA Puget Sound market, Tacoma, Washington. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Psychology from the University of Washington in 1991, a Master of International Relations and History from Louisiana State University in 1998, and from the University of Florida in 2002, a Master of Business Administration, Master of Healthcare Administration and Doctorate of Health Services Research. Later he earned a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2009, where he earned the Commandant’s Award. Dr. Bundt is an active Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Jesse Markman MD, MBA

Chief of Staff

Jesse Markman, MD, MBA was appointed VA Puget Sound Health Care System chief of staff August 2023. Dr. Markman joined VA Puget Sound as a staff psychiatrist in 2013 and has held several leadership positions including serving as interim chief of staff from October 2022 to August 2023, associate chief of staff for Mental Health and director of outpatient mental health services. He also completed a detail as the acting chief of staff at Roseburg VA Medical Center in 2021. Dr. Markman received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Michigan. He completed his psychiatry residency training at the University of Washington in 2013. Dr. Markman is an associate professor at the University of Washington and served as an associate training director for the Psychiatry Residency Training Program for six years. He currently serves as the associate dean for Veteran Affairs for the UW School of Medicine. His areas of educational research, interest, and expertise are in educational teaching skills, leadership development, and mentoring in medical training. Outside of work, Dr. Markman enjoys home improvement projects, reading, and losing at cards. He and his husband have an ongoing endeavor trying to get their moderately behaved dog to become a well-behaved dog.

Geraldine L'Heureux MBA, MHA, BSN, RN

Associate Director of Patient Care Services

Geri L'Heureux was appointed the deputy director, patient care services at VA Puget Sound Health Care System October 1, 2018. Prior to joining VA Puget Sound, Ms. L'Heureux was the vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at the Pacific Alliance Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. There she managed the operation of all clinical services including pharmacy, radiology diagnostics, cardiopulmonary, laboratory, environment of care, infection control and nursing services. In addition, L'Heureux served as an adjunct professor at Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles where she oversaw compliance with international Joint Commission accreditation for the Angel Hospital Corporation in Shanghai. She has served in various health care leadership positions from the management of nursing operational functions at a 420-bed, full-service, acute care hospital (included psychiatric unit and emergency services), to oversight of nursing operations at a 142-bed hospital that provided acute rehabilitation, perinatal services, inpatient psychiatric and emergency department services. After completing her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Mount St. Mary's College in Brentwood, California, she received her Master of Business Administration and a Master of Health Care Administration from University of Phoenix in 2005. She is a member of the following professional organizations: Southern California Patient Safety Collaborative, American Organization of Nurse Executives, American College of Nursing Leaders and Southern California Bioethics Committee Consortium.

Michelle Bird MSN, RN, NE-BC

Deputy Associate Director of Patient Care Services