Pennsylvania rolls out Healium across all six state veterans homes

Pennsylvania’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has deployed Healium Clinical in every one of its six state veterans homes, bringing a VR biofeedback tool to residents in Erie, Pittsburgh, Duncansville, Philadelphia, Spring City and Scranton. The rollout gives long-term care staff a drug-free way to help veterans watch stress responses settle in real time.

Why it matters: - Pennsylvania has standardized a measurable, non-pharmacological stress-management tool across its entire state veterans home system. - The rollout gives long-term care staff a new option for residents who need something immediate, low-burden and available without medication. - The deployment may matter beyond Pennsylvania because roughly 160 state veterans homes operate nationwide, often serving similar populations with limited staff.

What happened: - The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Veterans Homes, deployed Healium Clinical across all six homes in its system after a competitive state solicitation. - Healium Clinical is an FDA-registered Class II 510(k)-exempt biofeedback system. - The platform is now in use at state veterans homes in Erie, Pittsburgh, Duncansville, Philadelphia, Spring City and Scranton.

The details: - Residents use VR goggles to enter calm visual environments such as a waterfall, an ocean or a field of light. - A guided breathpacer sets the rhythm during sessions. - Sessions can last as little as four minutes. - Healium content is pre-downloaded to the goggles and does not require an internet connection. - Healium’s customer success team trained staff at each home site by site. - Barry Lowen, director of the Bureau of State Veterans Homes, said the immersive systems give residents new ways to practice mindful exercises that promote relaxation, reduce stress and support a peaceful mind. - Healium says the platform has been evaluated in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including a Frontiers in Psychology study that found a four-minute Healium experience reduced anxiety as measured by quantitative EEG. - Healium says research in Mayo Clinic Proceedings found significant reductions in anxiety using Healium before cardiac surgery. - Healium is available through Lovell Government Services, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. - Healium says the platform is used by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, federal agencies, behavioral health clinics and pain clinics worldwide.

Between the lines: - The rollout reflects a shift toward giving staff objective, visible feedback on whether a resident is settling, not just subjective reports of stress. - The offline setup suggests the product was chosen with older buildings and uneven wireless coverage in mind. - Sarah Hill, Healium’s CEO and co-founder, framed the deployment as a way to show residents what relaxing looks like inside their own bodies. - Pennsylvania appears to be one of the first state veterans home systems to standardize Healium across every facility.

What's next: - Healium’s use in Pennsylvania now becomes a reference point for other state veterans home systems considering similar VR-based wellness tools. - The key question is whether the system produces enough practical benefit to broaden adoption in long-term care settings with staffing pressure. - Healium says the platform is not diagnostic and is not intended to diagnose, cure or treat any medical condition.

The bottom line: - Pennsylvania is betting that a short VR session can give veterans in long-term care a faster, more visible path to calm than the usual options available on the floor.