Mendry · Florida 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Veteran-Built & Independent
Mendry · Florida 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Veteran-Built & Independent
Mendry supports the two-hat clinical model — providers who serve veterans through VA Community Care and, under separate state authority, provide licensed medical cannabis care. One clinician. Two credentials. Real continuity. FREE for veterans and their families.
Veteran Care Is Compassion Care
The Two-Hat Model
Veterans have been navigating fragmented care for years — their VA provider on one side, a separate cannabis evaluator on the other, with the integration left to the veteran. The two-hat model puts the same licensed clinician on both sides, operating under separate authorities the law itself contemplates.
Federal Authority
The provider holds VA Community Care credentialing. They see veterans referred through CCN, deliver federally-authorized care, and bill VA TPAs. Under VHA Directive 1315, they discuss and document cannabis use in VA records, screen for drug interactions, and adjust care planning accordingly.
Veterans cannot be denied VA benefits for disclosing cannabis use or participating in a state cannabis program. That protection is explicit and statutory.
State Authority
The same clinician separately holds a state medical cannabis practitioner credential. They evaluate veterans for state-licensed medical cannabis programs, exercise real clinical judgment, and provide written certifications, recommendations, or prescriptions as their state defines.
This is real treating medicine — performed under state authority by a licensed clinician treating illness with medical cannabis where the evidence supports it.
Who We Serve
Mendry exists because veterans deserve better-coordinated care — and the clinicians and DCSP members who serve them deserve a network that supports the work.
Free access to the platform. Find a two-hat provider, learn how the model protects your VA benefits, and understand what your VA disclosure actually means under VHA Directive 1315.
Physicians, DOs, NPs, and PAs evaluating or already running the two-hat model. Read the 10-part provider guide. Find peer support. Get the regulatory tracking that solo practice can’t provide alone.
Direct Care Support Professionals — credentialing, billing, enrollment, prior auth, compliance, and admin operations. Member blogs, role education, and the network around the providers you support.
How Two-Hat Care Works
The two-hat model isn’t a workaround. It’s a deliberate practice structure that honors the legal separation federal and state authorities themselves require — while delivering the integrated clinical picture veterans have been asking for.
The veteran is seen under VA Community Care for federal benefits care. The provider documents cannabis use under VHA Directive 1315 protections.
The veteran’s cannabis treatment informs ongoing VA care — drug interaction screening, treatment response tracking, integrated clinical decisions.
One provider holds the full picture across both authorities. The veteran stops carrying the integration alone.
For Clinicians Considering The Model
The most common reason qualified physicians avoid medical cannabis practice for veterans is fear. The fear is understandable. The fear is also, under current law, unfounded.
State medical boards explicitly credential physicians for medical cannabis practice in the 40 states with active programs. Holding a state cannabis practitioner credential is itself evidence of being licensed and in good standing.
The DEA has not, in more than twenty years since Conant v. Walters, revoked a physician’s DEA registration for cannabis recommendation activity conducted under state authority. The legal protection has held across multiple federal administrations.
VA Community Care credentialing does not ask about, and does not prohibit, holding a state cannabis practitioner credential. The two are different authorities operating in different domains.
Educational Resources
Honest, in-depth content for the clinicians, members, and veterans who want to understand the model before they commit to anything.
For Direct Care Providers
10 parts covering the legal framework, VA credentialing protection, operational separation, economics, patient communication, malpractice, state-by-state feasibility, and how to actually start a two-hat practice. Written for licensed clinicians.
For DCSP Members
Honest writing for the administrative members who run credentialing, billing, enrollment, and the rest of the work. CAQH discipline. Veteran-to-DCSP transitions. The burnout no one talks about. Three blogs to start, more coming.
Whether you’re a veteran looking for a provider who can serve you across both federal and state care, a clinician considering the two-hat model, or a DCSP member supporting the work — Mendry is the network that connects you to the rest of the field.
