The Department of Veterans Affairs, also known as the VA or Veterans Administration, has been providing health care to veterans for many decades. Currently, the VA operates 152 medical centers and over 800 clinics. In addition, long-term care is provided at VA-owned community living centers as well as state-owned veteran nursing homes. But while VA health-care facilities have been in existence since the last century, the concept of caring for America's veterans has been around much longer.
History of Veterans Hospitals
In 1636, the Pilgrims of Plymouth enacted the first colonial law, which provided that any soldier returning from battle with an injury would receive lifetime support. Two hundred years later, during his second inaugural address in 1865, Abraham Lincoln called upon Congress and the people "to care for him who shall have borne the battle."
Still, it wasn't until 1930 that the Veterans Administration was finally established to "consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans." All kinds of benefit programs for veterans were organized under the new body. And 54 hospitals, many of them former army posts equipped to care for sick and injured soldiers, became known as veterans hospitals.
But their history isn’t the only thing that makes VA hospitals unique. Veterans hospitals differ from other hospitals in a number of noteworthy ways.
VA Patients and Eligibility
A veteran is defined as a former member of the armed services, which includes the army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard. So, except in extreme emergencies, veterans hospitals do not treat the general public. Still, not all veterans are eligible for health care at a VA facility.
To qualify, a veteran must have served in the armed services and not been discharged under dishonorable conditions. Reservists and National Guard members may also qualify for VA health-care benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs has established eight priority groups which the VA uses to balance demand for services against available resources. Priority Group 1 is most entitled to services. (Check the VA website or speak to a county veteran service office or a representative from your local VA facility to determine priority group and eligibility.)
Maternity, the Missing Ward at Veterans Hospitals
The services provided at a VA hospital aren't much different from any other hospital. It's what doesn't go on at VA Medical Centers that set them apart: childbirth. Maternity wards were never built because of the low female veteran population. But with more women joining the military, many veterans hospitals have designated space for women's clinics, where female veterans can now go for routine procedures, such as mammograms and gynecological exams.
Research and Doctors at VA Medical Centers
The VA's medical research program, one of the largest in the country, works at finding treatments and cures for all kinds of illnesses, including those resulting from war. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) therapy, which focuses on treatment for "shell shock" symptoms, like sleep and anxiety disorders, is one example of the research team's success.
The VA also manufactures artificial limbs and specializes in treating other combat-related injuries, such as those affecting the spinal cord, eyes and ears. Plus, the VA is a leader in cutting-edge technologies, like magnetoencephalography (which maps brain activity to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and other illnesses) and virtual ICU.
In addition, the VA leads in tele-medicine and home-based health care. Recently, the VA established polytrauma centers at several locations across the country to deal with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. These centers employ teams of multi-specialty physicians to treat multiple wounds or afflictions on one individual that resulted from his or her encounters at war.
Some might argue that what really puts the VA in a league of its own is its lifetime relationship with patients. Notes Phillip Longman in a 2005 Washington Monthly article, "[The VA's] customers don't jump from one health plan to the next every few years. They start a relationship with the VHA as early as their teens, and it endures." Longman adds that the VA's doctors are salaried and could make more money elsewhere but choose the VA instead, making them more idealistic about their profession and less fearful of new technologies than doctors at other health care systems.
Taxpayers Role in VA Health Care
So who pays for VA health care? Unlike private hospitals, which collect money from insurance companies, patients and other sources, VA hospitals are funded almost entirely through taxpayer dollars. Veterans hospitals do get reimbursed by outside sources—including veterans and their insurance companies—for certain medical expenses. However, these sources fund less than 10% of the VA’s total health-care budget.
Infrastructure of Veterans Health Facilities
Some VA facilities date back to the Civil War, although most VA hospitals were built between the 1920s and 1950s. Between 1948 and 1953, 47 hospitals were built from the "Modified H" design. With a brick exterior and the shape of an altered letter H, a "Modified H" hospital was hard to miss. Many VA hospitals have undergone major construction renovations in the past few decades, however, making the H-shape less evident today. VA hospitals have not only been able to maintain their infrastructure but, with renovations and additions, also keep pace with current health-care trends.
No matter what their design, veterans hospitals continue to play an important and necessary role in the lives of America’s soldiers and other military personnel. From performing routine physicals to leading the way in cutting-edge research like magnetoencephalography, doctors at VA medical centers have served veterans well for the past 80 years.
Sources:
Department of Veterans Affairs, www.va.gov.
Longman, Phillip, "The Best Care Anywhere," Washington Monthly (Jan./Feb. 2005).
Veterans Today, www.veteranstoday.com.
Susie Yakowicz - Susie Yakowicz is a Minnesota freelance writer whose work has appeared in dozens of publications for children and adults.
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