West Los Angeles VA
After the Civil War, the federal government began to construct national soldiers’ homes for disabled and homeless war veterans. Congress enacted legislation in 1887 to authorize construction of the first soldiers’ home in the West, and Former Senator John P. Jones and his family donated land in Los Angeles for this purpose. The legal deed in the land transfer requires that the government maintain it permanently for veterans.
Today, those 388 acres of land make up the Department of Veterans Affairs, West Los Angeles Medical Center (West LA VA), which is the largest medical center in the VA system and located in the 33rd Congressional District, which Rep. Waxman represents. The West LA VA is the nerve center of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, which serves 1.4 million veterans in Southern California and 530,000 veterans in the greater Los Angeles area. The West LA VA provides a full range of veteran services, including state-of-the art hospital and outpatient care, mental health services, rehabilitation, residential care, and long term care. It also houses a center for medical research and education for the Veterans Health Administration.
