Omer Yigiter and spiritual care for American veterans

Before becoming a chaplain at Northport VA Medical Center, Omer Yigiter volunteered at Rikers Island. There he met Muslim veterans in custody. A January 7, 2025 address by VA Secretary Denis McDonough describes that experience as the turning point toward professional chaplaincy.

From Brooklyn to Northport

According to the VA address, Yigiter had studied literature before moving from Turkey to Brooklyn. He worked at a community center, studied English and volunteered at Rikers. His subsequent preparation included seminary study, a clinical pastoral residency at the Manhattan VA, board certification and hospice and palliative-care requirements.

McDonough also described Muslim veterans and colleagues stopping by Yigiter’s Northport office simply because having a Muslim chaplain available mattered to them. This is the secretary’s account of Yigiter’s work in January 2025, not an independently conducted Muslim Nook interview or confirmation of his present assignment.

What a chaplain’s role can include

The Northport profile becomes easier to understand alongside descriptions from other VA facilities. These are examples of the profession, not a list of programs Yigiter personally runs.

VA Houston’s chaplain-services page describes support for religious and nonreligious patients, including grief care and help contacting a person’s own spiritual-care provider. Its Clinical Pastoral Education program involves learning through work with veterans. The same page describes video consultations through VA Video Connect for people who face distance, disability or transportation barriers.

For someone researching access, the useful next step is to ask their own VA facility about its chaplain service and referral arrangements. A service described in Houston should not be assumed available on identical terms at Northport or another facility.

A different way to begin a conversation

A May 2022 Washington DC VA report described a team that included Muslim, Roman Catholic and Protestant chaplains. Chief Carol Ramsey-Lucas explained that they served people across religious affiliations.

The report also described the Spirituality and the Arts program: veterans wrote, made artwork and participated in music. Ramsey-Lucas recalled a band whose members composed music and produced CDs. That example gives a more concrete picture of institutional spiritual care than a general statement about listening. Conversation at a bedside and participation in a group can offer different ways to share a personal story.

These are historical descriptions of particular programs, not evidence of clinical effectiveness or a current timetable. The facility’s own service information is the place to check what is offered now.

Follow the training, not just the title

Yigiter’s biography connects volunteering in a jail with supervised preparation and work in a veterans’ hospital. Those settings have different responsibilities, even when the same person moves between them. Following that path helps explain how community experience can develop into an institutional role.

Compare this account with Muslim military chaplaincy, which follows religious support within the armed forces. The public service collection brings the two settings together without treating military service and VA employment as the same career.