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Highlights of VA's history
Please also see the VA's75th Anniversary Page
for additional information
1930
July 21 - President Herbert Hoover signs Executive Order 5398 "Consolidation and Coordination
of Governmental Activities Affecting Veterans" implementing legislation passed July 3 by Congress
placing under one "administration" federal pension and other benefits program and veterans
medical facilities. This consolidated the U.S. Veterans' Bureau, the National Homes for Disabled Soldiers
and the Bureau of Pensions, Interior Department, into the Veterans Administration (VA). At the end of the
fiscal year, VA operated 48 hospitals and 54 regional offices with a work force of more than 30,000.
VA net expenditures for the year, $786 million.
1931
Of 1,349,812 VA beneficiaries, eight are pensioners of veterans of the War of 1812, 547 are of the
Mexican War, 9,753 of the Indian Wars and 193,721 are of the Civil War.
July 1 - new VA organization takes effect with the office of the administrator (CEO) over offices of
assistant administrators for medical and domiciliary care, pensions and compensation, and finance and
insurance, and an office of special counsel on insurance claims.
At year's end, 294 women veterans were being treated in VA medical facilities and African American
veterans made up seven percent of the VA patient population.
1932
VA began merging field operations to cut costs. The merger of the regional office, Soldiers Home
and hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., saved $20,000 in rental fees.
Veterans pension applicant physicals were moved to VA hospitals rather than being
done by fee-basis private physicians.
VA set up temporary hospital at the War Department Reservation in Fort Hunt, Va., near Washington,
D.C., to serve needs of "Bonus March" veterans temporarily encamped in the District June
11-August 12.
1933
Congress granted sweeping power to Roosevelt administration to stabilize the government's credit
in the face of the Great Depression. As part of government economy drive, VA reviewed more than a
million cases to insure "veterans' relief" payments were justified and consistent with new
laws. VA hospital and domiciliary work loads dropped 23 and 40 percent, respectively, due to new laws
limiting VA medical care eligibility.
VA in charge of selection of veterans for enrollment into the Civilian Conservation Corps.
December 1 - Board of Veterans Appeals established.
1934
VA continues to trim its work force as part of government economy drive.
VA directed to oversee disbursement of paychecks for those employed by the new Civilian Conservation
Corps.
1935
VA implements new Spanish American pension program passed by Congress.
Hines VA Hospital, Ill., described as one of the largest cancer treatment and research centers in
the world; 255 beds with high voltage X-ray equipment and a "radium emission plant."
Dayton, Ohio, VA Hospital equipped with a Kettering Hypotherm which induces artificial fever to treat
disease.
1936
Congress passes "Soldier's Bonus" legislation making adjusted service certificates eligible
to more than 3.5 million veterans.
VA receives its largest construction appropriation ever, $25.2 million.
VA gives priority to development of outpatient service at all VA hospitals.
Tuberculosis is single greatest cause of death in VA hospitals.
1937
VA study projects that it will need 100,000 hospital beds to meet veterans' health-care needs in ten
years.
VA operates hospitals at 81 locations in 43 states and D.C.
VA officials say "employment opportunities" is the most important veterans' relief problem.
1938
VA instructs its field facilities on claims adjudication policy: veterans not required to prove
their cases "beyond a reasonable doubt."
1939
Adjudication of World War I veteran dependents' claims decentralized to VA field facilities.
Policy requiring many VA hospital "ward employees" of lower grade to live on station dropped.
VA establishes standard 8-hour workday with half-hour lunch for all employees.
Nearly 302,000 veterans registered for employment with U.S. Employment Service.
1940
VA plans its medical preparedness role under the new national defense program. President Roosevelt
approves plan that would transfer back to military beds used by VA in military hospitals.
Congress passes National Service Life Insurance Act creating federal insurance program for members
of the armed forces.
VA organizes to implement National Service Life Insurance program and receives 662,000 applications
by October.
Armed forces begin to drain VA of trained medical staff. Growing industrial activity competes for
employees.
1941
VA insurance activity mushrooms.
VA plans transition from national defense plan to war readiness.
Average age of World War I veterans is 49.
1942
January 30 - Congress ends the Civilian Conservation Corps program.
1943
Congress grants World War II veterans hospital, domiciliary and burial benefits on a par
with World War I veterans.
VA provides laboratory exams for Army induction boards.
1944
Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill of Rights) enacted. The law recognizes VA
"not only as an important post-war agency, but as an exceedingly important post-war agency."
It gives VA overall control of veterans affairs so that veterans will have one central agency to
insure their rights.
World War II veterans treated at VA hospitals rise from 5,132 to 13,707; from nine percent
of patients at beginning of year to 21 percent at year's end.
1945
General Omar Bradley named VA Administrator to oversee veterans transition into civilian life
during demobilization.
VA moves many regional benefits offices to downtown urban areas and establishes numerous
contact offices to handle increase in benefits applications.
VA processes more than 83,000 applications for educational benefits during program's first
year.
November - Special Services program begins to coordinate patient welfare programs with local
community resources throughout VA hospital system - recreation, volunteers, chaplains included.
1946
VA workload unprecedented as demobilization begins in earnest. From October 1945 to August
1946, three-quarter million veterans released from armed forces. Veterans' population swells to
17 million.
VA overhauls adjudication structure to meet growing demand.
VA divides country into 13 branch areas, each under a Deputy Administrator responsible for
VA operations in that area.
VA Central Office reorganized into a policy-making supervisory organization - Department of
Medicine and Surgery under a chief medical director; assistant administrators for claims,
vocational rehabilitation and education, insurance, finance, legislation, personnel, contract
and administration service, and construction, supply and real estate; chairmen for the office
of solicitor and Board of Appeals; directors for coordination and planning, public relations,
insular and foreign relations and special services.
Reorganization of VA hospital system begins. VA medical research and affiliation programs
take shape.
May - VA Voluntary Service established.
August - Veterans Canteen Service established.
1947
Congress sets December 7, 1941 through July 25, 1947 service period to be eligible for
benefits established for World War II veterans.
World War II veterans and their families make up one-fourth of the U.S. population.
Female veterans are 1.4 percent of VA patient population.
1948
VA operates 125 hospitals with 102,200 beds. One-third of VA patients have service-connected
disabilities. At end of year, 20,700 veterans deemed eligible for VA medical care await hospital
admission.
1949
VA staffs and equips seven hospitals to specialize in treatment of spinal cord injury
patients. There are 1,400 paraplegics in VA hospitals.
1950
Growing veteran population stabilizes at just more than19 million.
VA begins to reduce number of benefits field offices.
Recruitment of doctors, dentists and nurses is a major challenge for VA.
Number of VA hospitals increases from 129 to 136.
Forty VA hospitals participate in investigation of new drug therapies for tuberculosis -
streptomycin and terramycin. More than 50,000 veterans on VA tuberculosis case registry.
VA demonstrates effectiveness of routine chest X-ray in screening TB patients.
1951
Seventeen new VA general medical and surgical hospitals open for a total of 151.
VA faces critical shortage of stenographers.
VA launches forms standardization and reduction effort. VA field stations using 22,000
different forms of which only 15 percent are standard throughout system.
1952
Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1952 provides GI Bill-type benefits package to Korean War veterans.
VA authorized to make direct loans to veterans for housing under Defense Housing Act of 1951.
Korean War adds 400,000 to veteran population.
Hines VA Blind Rehabilitation Center expands to meet needs of Korean War veterans.
VA distributes disaster relief planning guidance to all hospitals to insure their participation
in community disaster preparedness.
January - VA Western Prosthetics Distribution Center established in Denver. (Becomes national
center a few years later when Washington, D.C., eastern center closes.)
President Truman participates in VA Voluntary Service National Recognition Ceremony recognizing
volunteers at 160 VA facilities. Some hospital managers create position of director of Voluntary
Service.
VA designates certain hospitals as cardio-vascular surgery specialty centers.
VA owns 949 television sets at 90 facilities.
1953
VA reorganizes along "major purpose" lines into three departments: medicine and
surgery, insurance, and veterans benefits.
1954
Korean War veterans number increases by 934,000.
1955
VA total expenditures for FY1955 -- $5,329,981,675.
Three new VA hospitals open.
Home loan applications up 80 percent.
One-hundred VA hospitals approved for medical school residency training.
VA institutes "intermediate service" programs at two hospitals as it develops a
medical care program for long-term chronically ill patients.
VA trains management staff for new 672-bed Veterans Memorial Hospital for Philippine veterans
which opens in November.
1956
Study indicates VA faces a near-term problem of replacing generation of top-level managers
eligible for retirement.
Twenty-five VA hospitals train 2,600 nurses from 100 schools.
VA research focuses on major health problems of veterans - heart disease, cancer, mental
illness, TB, and problems of aging.
VA adopts plan to utilize volunteers at outpatient facilities.
More than 850,000 veterans are 65 and older. Forty-four VA hospitals have programs to care
for long-term chronically ill patients.
August 2 - Last Union Army veteran of the Civil War Albert Woolson dies at age 109.
1957
VA research funding expands - 15 new research centers established for a total of 125.
VA develops prototypes and standardized specifications for 500 and 800-bed hospitals.
VA hospitals increase use of new tranquilizing drugs for treatment of emotional and mental
disturbance. Fifty percent of psychiatric patients on drug therapy.
1958
VA's system of 172 hospitals undertakes 24 large-scale cooperative studies.
VA construction budget largest since 1951. Modernization of VA facilities begins.
VA explores potential of electronic computers. Acquires three electronic data processing
systems.
Veterans Benefits Department establishes five area directors to manage the operation of 67
regional offices.
March 16 - Last Confederate veteran of the Civil War John Salling dies at age 112.
August -- VA Administrator Sumner Whittier, testifying at HVAC hearing on the utilization of
beds in VA hospitals, asks Congress to decide how far VA should go in providing care to vets
with non-service connected disabilities.
September -- VA installs an IMB 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine for use by the machine
records and accounting division, launching an agency-wide entrance into high-speed electronic
computing "hardware."
October -- VA receives an Aural Reading Machine that helps visually impaired employees read
printed material. VA's Visual Aids Division claims several firsts in film work, including
production of the first government-produced color motion picture.
1959
February -- VA 1960 budget request included an $18.7 million increase for patient care,
bringing the total request to $5.1 billion.
May -- "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his
orphan." chosen by VA Administrator Whittier to be inscribed on plaque and installed on
the front of the Central Office building.
September -- A remote control typewriter that "may revolutionize the lives of many disabled
persons," went on trial at the Bronx VA hospital.
October -- An atomic reactor, the largest ever installed in a hospital and one of the first
designed specifically for medical purposes, was placed in operation at the Omaha, Neb., VA hospital.
November -- First ADP operation launched at Philadelphia district office to service the GI
insurance accounts of more than 6 million veterans.
1960
February -- $5.4 billion budget proposed reflecting a balance between growing and shrinking
veterans benefits programs.
March -- New programs introduced included home-care plans for patients and three pilot
geriatric clinics.
June -- VA begins a health benefits program for federal employees covering indemnity,
comprehensive group practice and several other benefits.
December -- The first William S. Middleton Medical Research Award, honoring the Chief Medical
Director, given to Dr. Solomon A. Berson and Dr. Rosalyn Yalow of the Bronx, N.Y., VA Hospital
for their findings in the study of insulin.
1961
March -- Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, chief of the radioisotope service at the Bronx VA Hospital,
received the first Federal Woman's Award. New VA Administrator Gleason presents President
Kennedy a GI insurance dividend check. The President ordered a speed-up of dividend payments
to help spur the economy.
July -- The new GI housing bill extended the right of WWII and Korean vets to obtain
guaranteed loans.
August -- With a shortage of professional nurses, VA studies whether clerical and other
chores can be handled by non-medical personnel.
November -- Invited by Administrator John Gleason, President Kennedy places a wreath at
the Tomb of the Unknowns for Veterans Day. This was the first time since 1954 when Armistice
Day became Veterans Day that a president took part in the observance.
1962
January -- Irene Parsons appointed director of personnel service in Department of
Veterans Benefits. This was the first time that a woman had been selected to head a section
of a major department.
April -- VA increases civil defense efforts by preparing its medical system to be able to
care for mass casualties should nuclear attack ever occur.
October -- VA issues more than 54 million compensation and pension checks by means of a new
interagency electronic date processing system.
December -- Dr. William S. Middleton reports during the annual meeting of AMSUS that a
new hydraulic knee joint with fluid control is a highlight in progress of VA research this year.
1963
January -- VACO designated as a Public Shelter Area. The building is stocked with
survival supplies containing provisions for 3,550 persons for 14 days..Spokane, Wash., VA hospital
begins using a device which counts blood cells electronically. It is heralded as "the only
totally new piece of advanced electronic equipment for medical use in the past 30 years."
February -- VA extends a revolutionary "unit system" of psychiatric treatment to 16 of
its 35 mental hospital. It reorganizes a patient's hospital life into a patient group, with medical
personnel and social workers assigned only to that group.
July -- Nashville VA hospital opened. Among the attendees was Senator Albert Gore, Sr. To save
the lives of veterans with incurable kidney diseases, treatment centers planned for VA hospitals.
Two centers already open in L.A. and Hines, Ill. Newly opened VA Office in Rome serves veterans in
21 European countries.
August -- Dorothy Starbuck named manager of the Denver Regional Office. This was the first time
that a woman had been made a regional manager of benefits programs.
October -- VA enforces an equal housing order by placing a special emphasis on securing
nondiscrimination certification from GI home builders.
November -- PAID project in planning state. Plans to automate payroll, accounting and personnel
operations for more than 172,000 employees were underway. In one of his last acts in recognition
of veterans, President Kennedy placed a red, white and blue wreath of carnations and ribbon on the
Tomb of the Unknowns for Veterans Day.
1964
February -- The distribution of free cigarettes and other tobacco products in VA hospitals
was banned as a result of a Surgeon General report on smoking and health.
March -- VA studies low-grade job problems and places some employees in higher grade positions
in which their skills were better used.
1965
May -- New VA hospital opens in Washington, D.C. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey dedicates
the facility touted as one of the most automated in the world.
August -- VARO contact representative David Andrus travels to Alaska to help natives in remote
villages fill out VA benefits forms, negotiating the 10-day trip with the help of a kayak, dog
team, single-engine plane and hikes of up to three miles across ice and tundra.
September -- New VA Administrator Driver asked veterans service organizations to support
President Johnson's Vietnam policy.
1966
January -- The largest group insurance agreement in the history of the nation was signed,
signaling the beginning of Servicemen's Group Life Insurance.
February -- VA employees in the five boroughs of New York City coped with a transit strike
by riding bikes, postal trucks and walking, walking, walking.
April -- Administrator William Driver, Congressman Teague and a VA team travel to South
Vietnam to see how VA can support U.S. troops.
November-- VAnguard, VA's employee publication, carried the first tribute listing the
servicemen and women serving in Vietnam who were immediate members of VA employee families.
The list continued throughout most of the war.
1967
January -- VA sent contact representatives to South Vietnam to provide on-the-spot
counseling for home bound soldiers. VA creates a nuclear medicine service to coordinate
the clinical uses of nuclear energy in VA hospitals.
February -- VA budget proposal for 1968 hits $6.6 billion, which includes a $66 million
increase for medical care and research, the largest increase in 10 years.
May -- Administrator Driver establishes the Veterans' Advisory Commission to hear veterans
on readjustment problems.
July -- Administrator Driver reports that VA had reached an all-time high in employees'
purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds.
October -- 151 VA stations plus Central Office report that 869 VA employees had family
members serving in Vietnam.
1968
January -- A new VA Outpatient Medical Treatment Identification Card was introduced allowing
veterans to be treated by private doctors if treatment by VA was not feasible.
February -- President Johnson calls on Congress to pass a comprehensive package of benefits
and programs for Vietnam-era veterans.
March -- Veterans Assistance Centers were opened in 10 principal cities.
May -- Coordinators to hire disadvantaged youth were designated at all VA stations, and plans
were made for the employment of several thousand during the summer.
November -- Spouses of veterans for the first time were authorized to received VA educational
assistance allowances.
1969
June -- Edward Reinmuth, Central Office employee in Compensation and Pension Service, was
honored for being the first federal employee to complete 50 years of service with VA.
1970
January -- The first VA school for nurse anesthetists opens at the Des Moines, Iowa,
VA Hospital.
March -- Dr. Oscar Auerbach, pathologist, East Orange, N.J., VA Hospital, links cigarette
smoking to lung cancer in a two-year study.
September -- A pilot project called the Hospital Based Home Care Program is tried at six
VA hospitals.
1971
March -- An earthquake collapses two buildings at the VA Hospital in San Fernando, Calif.,
killing 44 patients and 10 employees.
April -- Irene Parsons, assistant administrator for Central Office Personnel, is the first
woman to receive the AMVETS Silver Helmet Award.
May -- VA reports the opening of its first five drug centers, in Washington, Houston, Battle
Creek, Mich., Sepulveda, Calif., and New York City, and plans for another 25 by 1973. Dr. Valerija
B. Raulinaitis is the first woman to be named director of a VA hospital in Pittsburgh.
June -- Cartoons featuring well-known comic strip characters, including Dagwood, Alley Oop and
Beetle Bailey, sent to major newspapers to publicize benefits available to veterans.
November -- The first course in police skills and federal law enforcement at VA hospitals
begins at the new Hospital Police Training Center at North Little Rock, Ark., VA Hospital. Joe
Frazier, heavyweight champion, presents a one-hour stage show for patients at the Philadelphia
VA Hospital.
1972
January -- Since 1967 the VA outreach program provided assistance to approximately 1.75
million servicemen and women in Southeast Asia, and extended the program to include Germany,
Japan and Korea.
October -- A betatron generator, capable of firing 25 million volts of radiation for treatment
of cancer, went into operation at the Bronx VA Hospital in New York.
1973
January -- The first American license to implant nuclear-powered heart pacemakers was
granted to the VA in July 1972. VA counselors participated in a series of overseas job information
fairs in Europe under sponsorship of the Jobs for Veterans National Committee.
April -- After five years of service and the participation of 99 counselors, the VA ends benefits
counseling program in Vietnam.
July -- Administration of the National Cemetery System was transferred by Congress from the Army
to VA.
October -- Ten VA hospitals in the Appalachian region scheduled a test of communications through
a space satellite.
November -- Veterans of three wars, some 8.5 million strong, passed the $100 billion mark in the
value of homes purchased under the GI Bill home loan guaranty program.
1974
January -- VA Central Office receives by mail $10,000 from an anonymous donor. VA's one-stop,
mobile-van service extended to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
February -- VA adds new hemodialysis centers at its Birmingham and Cincinnati hospitals, increasing
the capacity of its nationwide kidney machine network by 100 patients a year.
June -- VA announces that 1,300 VA representatives were going to college campuses to speed
processing of educational benefits for veterans. Two annual awards, named for the late Sam Rose,
chief of Central Office's Contact Division, were created to recognize VA employees for accomplishments
in assisting veterans and their families.
1975
March -- VA begins making education loans up to $600 a year under a new law benefiting Vietnam
era veterans.
May -- A VA van tours the Navajo nation in Arizona and nearby states to locate beneficiaries.
July -- Bob Hope gives a 90-minute performance for patients at the Brecksville Division VA Hospital
in Cleveland.
September -- Dr. William S. Middleton, Chief Medical Director from 1955 to 1963, dies.
1976
January - National Cemetery Service develops a program to identify deceased Medal of Honor
recipients to memorialize them with an engraving of the Medal on the headstones.
March -- Insurance hoax about dividends for World War II vets exposed. National personnel
records center in St. Louis rebuilt after being destroyed by fire.
July -- BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification and Records Locator Subsystem) automated identification
cards for nearly 30 million veterans. Number of living veterans soared from about 4.7 million in
1930 when President Hoover established VA to almost 30 million.
October -- Plans called for issuing flame-resistant Nomex pajamas to all VA inpatients.
1977
March -- Max Cleland, at age 34, becomes the youngest VA administrator and the first Vietnam
veteran to head VA.
April -- Women VA employees outnumber the men. VA domiciliaries develop new look and services.
May -- Administrator Cleland visits VA employees in D.C. as part of the program "Operation
Handshake."
October -- VA "May I Help You" campaign begins to encourage competent, courteous and
compassionate service among employees. Civil Service Commission cited VA's affirmative action
program for people with disabilities as outstanding.
October -- Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow at Bronx VAMC and Dr. Andrew V. Schally at New Orleans VAMC were
awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in the field in medicine.
November -- TARGET computer system goes nationwide, linking 56 regional offices.
1978
February -- Drs. Margaret Rhea Seddon and Norman Thagard were chosen to be on board the Space
Shuttle. Administrator Cleland established an Office of Human Goals to centralize civil rights
and equal opportunity programs and activities.
March -- Allan Lee Reynolds was named to fill the newly created position of VA Inspector
General.
April -- A new Department of Memorial Affairs was established. "VA - May I help You?"
began Phase II with Operation Better Letters, stressing "feelings for those with whom we
correspond" as a theme.
July -- Little Rock VA Hospital initiates VA's first rural Hospital Based Home Care (HBHC)
program in Hot Springs, Ark. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, started in 1974 by
veterans of the Vietnam war, became an official VA program.
September -- The Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program had some 71,300
participants since being established in 1977. Olin E. Teague Award established for outstanding
achievement by a VA employee in rehabilitation of veterans.
October -- First new national cemetery in 25 years dedicated at Calverton, N.Y. Certain VA
facilities designated as "medical centers" to more clearly indicate their services to
veterans. Administrator Cleland began attending President Carter's Cabinet meetings.
November -- The first national cemetery to be opened in the West in nearly 30 years was
dedicated at Riverside, Calif.
1979
February -- Recreation Service established to encourage veteran patients to discover
and enjoy spare time interests. VA's first annual Olin E. Teague Award went to Dr. Myron G.
Eisenberg, Cleveland VA Medical Center.
March -- First IG hotline opens to all employees to help VA curb misconduct.
April -- DoD announces that Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) serving during WWII are
eligible for VA benefits.
May -- VA takes lead in recognizing Vietnam veterans during presidential proclaimed Vietnam
Veterans Week. Eleven researchers selected to study alcoholism looking at the biochemical, genetic
and pharmacological causes.
June -- Syndicated cartoon Ripley's Believe It or Not told of Betty C. Keenan, 76, who had
volunteered at the Bronx, N.Y., VA Medical Center for more than 36,500 hours.
July -- The 18th proclaimed by President Carter as POW-MIA Recognition Day. VA
sought answers to Agent Orange puzzle by forming an advisory committee on health-related
effects of herbicides.
September -- VA reaches out to vets in prison, jail, probation or parole, and Veterans
Assistance Service makes 75,300 face-to-face briefings on veterans benefits.
October -- Central Office receives its first TTY (telephonic/teletype communications system).
"Hello Girls," Signal Corps telephone operators who served in World War I, were
officially discharged some 60 years later, making them eligible for VA benefits.
November -- General Omar N. Bradley returns to VA as part of a dedication ceremony to name
the Central Office executive conference room after him.
1980
February -- VA publications got a new look with release of the Graphics Standards Manual,
which standardized colors, sizes, typography and formats for VA printed material.
March -- Number of qualified dietitians had grown from 230 in 1940 to 1,131 in 1980.
April -- Winston-Salem VARO completes arrangement with the city of Fayetteville, N.C.,
to provide single-family homes in a program believed to be the first of its kind in the country
involving properties on which VA has foreclosed mortgages.
May -- VA tested a new CARS Entry Retrieval Transaction System (CERTS) to replace CARS, the
Centralized Accounts Receivable System that used a manual method of accounting for veterans
making payments on debts to the agency. Members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
gained DoD recognition of their wartime service as active military duty for purposes of benefits
administered by VA.
June -- Benefits counselors from three regional offices counseled families of eight servicemen
killed in Iran in the attempt to free the hostages. Drs. Glen Gale, Sandra Meischen and Paul
Schwarz of Charleston, S.C., VAMC, developed anticancer CIS-Platinum compounds. VA approved
Federal Agency Guidelines for Implementation of Metric Conversion.
July -- Federal policy on "contracting out" was defined by OMB Circular No. A-76.
VA POW Study sent to Congress made recommendations for health care of former POWs. Maryland's
Eastern Shore Veterans' Cemetery near Preston received the first matching fund grant given
through the VA grants Program. VA issues a policy statement on sexual harassment.
August -- Commemorative postal stamp recognizing 50 years of service provided by VA issued
as VA celebrated 50th anniversary,
October -- Dr. Yeogchi Wu and Harold Krick invented a removable cast that helped amputees heal
faster and was considered so cost-effective it could save VA more than $10.5 million. Post-Traumatic
Stress Neurosis reclassified into its own category with clearer guidelines for diagnosis and
compensation.
November -- First Comprehensive Rehabilitation Centers planned at Hines, Ill., and Palo
Alto, Calif., VA Medical Centers. VA establishes a Medical Inspector office. New law passed
special pay increases for VA physicians and dentists. Performance appraisals changed based
on the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
December -- Status of VA's Nursing Service improved with elevation of Director Vernice
Ferguson to new position of Deputy Assistant Chief Medical Director for Nursing programs.
1981
February -- VA's fist halfway house for alcohol and substance abuse treatment opens at
Murfreesboro, Tenn., VA Medical Center.
April -- The bacteriological agent responsible for the pneumonia-like Legionnaires'
disease was brought under control at Wadsworth, Calif., VA Medical Center.
June -- General Omar Bradley, head of VA from 1945-47 who presided over the return to
civilian life of nearly 13 million vets, died after 69 years on duty.
July -- The design of a polished black granite memorial submitted by Maya Ying Lin
was chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. VA's time capsule, designed during the
agency's 50th anniversary year, was installed in the Administrator's reception
room with instructions on opening it in the year 2030, VA's centennial.
August -- Spokane, Was., VA Medical Center dietetic service was first in VA to receive
the Ivy Award from Restaurants and Institutions magazine for having food service
operations and operators which "epitomize excellence."
September -- Forty-three vet centers were added to the program, bringing the total
number to 133.
October -- Congressional legislation expected to save $110 million by ending or
reducing five VA benefits - flight training, correspondence training, education loans,
dental care, and burial benefits. VA adopts color-coordinated uniforms for employees at medical centers.
December -- VA sponsors the first National Veterans Wheelchair Games at the Richmond,
Va., VA Medical Center. Administrator Robert Nimmo initiates collection procedures to recover
the cost of medical treatment given free to VA employees who said they couldn't afford private
treatment of non-service-connected conditions.
1982
January -- VA sought out former POWs to inform them about benefits in compliance
with the Former Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 1981.
February -- Paul Bannai named Chief Memorial Affairs director. Nearly four million
veterans who had kept their GI life insurance policies in force anticipated sharing in
a record $554.6 million in dividends during 1982.
March -- The Honolulu Regional Office opens an office in Agana, Guam. A VA
rehabilitative engineering researcher, David Jaffe, recognized for developing the "smart
wheelchair," a chair that avoids obstacles with ultrasonic radar.
April -- VA Agent Orange Office formed to help resolve questions about Agent Orange.
May -- VA launches nursing scholarship program. Second annual National Veterans
Creative Arts Winners State Show - the first one was at Tuskegee, Ala., VA Medical Center
in September 1981.
June -- Physicians at Albuquerque VA Medical Center temporarily reduced the power of
their beeper system to lessen interference on a frequency used to guide the Columbia
space shuttle to a safe landing.
July -- VA is one of five federal agencies cited by President Reagan for outstanding
participation observance of International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981.
1983
January -- Harry Walters named VA Administrator.
March -- Interagency agreement shifts Agent Orange study from VA to Centers for
Disease Control.
April -- Bumper stickers saying "America is #1 Thanks to our Veterans"
appears.
May -- Dr. Donald Custis' term as CMD extended through Jan. 2, 1986.
June -- VA adopts system-wide automated data processing for medical centers -- the
Decentralized Hospital Computer Program.
July -- Administrator Walters issues goals and objectives in support of VA mission.
September -- Cleveland VA research project, "Functional Electrical Stimulation"
(FES) publicized as research to restore leg movement inhibited by paralysis.
October -- Administrator Walters appoints advisory committee to focus on needs of
women veterans, and another one to advise about cemeteries and memorials.
1984
January -- President Reagan signed new veterans' benefits health-care law. VA
established two more Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Centers, bringing the
total of GRECCs to 10.
March -- VA Researcher Millie Hughes-Fulford, Ph.D., selected to participate in the
U.S. space program.
April -- VA undertakes a major study of post-traumatic stress disorder.
May -- VA employee Mary Glavin, physical therapist, recognized for playing the part
of therapist in a few episodes of the "After MASH" television series. VA
officials take part in the burial ceremonies of an unknown Vietnam soldier at Arlington
National Cemetery on Memorial Day
June --. VA Compensated Work Therapy Program expanded to 44 sites with opening of
three more.
August -- VA employee George Moore, Jr., a Vietnam veteran and triple amputee, was one
of the torchbearers for the 1984 Olympic Games.
November - VA employee Dr. Gerald Durkan hailed for inventing a Demand Oxygen Controller
(DOC), a sensing/control device registered, trademarked and marketed nationally as part of
a portable oxygen system.
December -- Dorothy Starbuck retires as VA Chief Benefits Director.
1985
January -- Administrator Walters creates a business and labor committee to promote employment
of veterans in the private sector, called Committee for Employer Support of Veteran Employment
(CESVE).
February -- "VA Medical Advances," TV programs about current VA medical research,
began airing on cable stations. After one-and-a-half years' testing, VA purchased 500 Seattle
feet for distribution to VA medical centers for selected use before approving manufacture.
March -- Entertainer Liberace kicked off a $1.6 million fund drive for restoration of
103-year-old Ward Memorial Theater on Milwaukee VA Medical Center grounds. It would be renamed
Liberace Playhouse; he grew up across the street.
April -- VA and two design engineers were among the first winners of Presidential Awards for
Design Excellence, for design of Seattle Foot. Women veterans coordinator positions created at
all VA medical centers.
May -- Awards for Excellence in Nursing established.
1986
June -- First participant completes VA's Health Professional Scholarship Program for nursing
students.
December -- First VA medical center-community hospital sharing agreements allow joint acquisition
of costly medical equipment.
1987
March -- VA marked the 12 millionth home-loan guarantee.
June -- VA undertakes a cooperative study of the long-term benefits and toxicities
of the drug azidothymidine (AZT) used to treat AIDS patients.
1988
June -- Controller's Office initiates electronic date interchange (EDI) of field station
purchasing information - paperless operation from shipment to payment. The remains of American
soldiers of the War of 1812, buried in Canada, were repatriated and buried at Bath, N.Y., National
Cemetery on June 30 in the first such ceremony held between Canada and the U.S.
August -- VA and ACTION sign agreement to provide social support services in the home to
veterans through the volunteer agency's Senior Companion and Retired Senior Volunteer
Programs.
September 22 -- Ceremony recognizes 20 millionth GI Bill participants. Administrator Thomas
Turnage initiates three-year Management Efficiency Pilot Program (MEPP), relaxing procedures
and directives that impede efficient operations.
October -- President Reagan signs legislation creating the Department of Veterans Affairs.
1989
January -- Federal Design Achievement Award goes to Fort Custer, Mich., National Cemetery.
President Bush nominates Edward J. Derwinski as first Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
March 15 -- White House ceremonies mark beginning of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a
new cabinet department.
Legislation creates the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals to review VA decisions denying
veterans' claims.
Specialized treatment programs for homeless veterans begin at 13 existing domiciliary sites;
13 new programs at urban VA medical enters.
Vet centers celebrate the 10th anniversary of their founding under Readjustment
Counseling Service.
1990
January -- VA launches advertising campaign to recruit medical personnel. Staff
members from VBA work with military casualty assistance offices, and visit hospitalized soldiers
wounded in Panama hostilities.
February-April -- Secretary Edward Derwinski rules that non-Hodgkin's lymphoma would be
automatically considered service-connected in Vietnam veterans. VA proposes to Congress revisions
in the pay system for nurses to make salary rates more competitive. VBA establishes adjudication
training academy. VA established the Commission on the Future Structure of Veterans Health Care.
June -- National Cemetery System establishes a telephone system to permit the weekend scheduling
of burials. VA holds its first national total quality management seminar for top managers.
July -- Renovation of Central Office main building announced to begin next year. VHA Satellite
Television Network sends first VA-produced education program to more than 125 VA medical facilities.
September -- VA facilities mobilized to support casualties of the Persian Gulf War and assist
these new veterans with benefits claims.
VA creates an Emergency Medical Preparedness Office within VHA in charge of VA-DoD contingency
planning and coordination with the National Disaster Medical System.
VHA reorganized -- regions reduced from seven to four and 27 medical district offices closed.
VBA works with DoD and DoL to begin pilot Transition Assistance Program in seven states designed
to provide military personnel employment, training and benefits information 180 days before discharge.
1991
June -- VHA creates an office of quality assurance and inaugurates several programs to measure
quality of medical treatment. Two VA units were among 11 federal winners of Awards for Management
Excellence from the President's Council on Management Improvement, Tuscaloosa, Ala., VA Medical
Center and the VBA debt management program.
July -- World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas testing during military service were made
eligible for disability compensation if they suffered from certain heath conditions.
Congress passes the Persian Gulf Conflict Supplemental Authorization and Personnel Benefits Act,
which declares the conflict a war for determining eligibility for veterans' benefits.
Agent Orange Act of 1991 establishes mechanism for VA to presumptively recognize disabilities for
service-connection in Vietnam veterans based on exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam.
VA Readjustment Counseling Service (Vet Center) eligibility extended to Gulf War, Lebanon, Panama
and Grenada combat veterans.
Smoke-free policy initiated at VA medical facilities
Martinez, Calif., VA Medial Center closed due to earthquake damage. New outpatient clinic designed,
built and opened in 10 months.
1992
May -- VA awards its first contract for external peer review of medical care.
July -- VA inaugurates a financial management system to simplify the work of payroll and accounting
technicians, fiscal analysts, voucher examiners and other employees. VA establishes a relationship
with the Very Special Arts organization to promote the creative arts among VA patients. End of
fiscal 1992 is deadline for VAS to adopt the Metric System.
August -- 1992 medical care appropriation included a $90 million addition attributable to 1991 cost
recoveries, primarily from private health insurers.
September -- VA sought legislative authority to give Gulf War veterans special access to medical
exams and a registry of health-related data.
September 10 - Last Spanish-American War era veteran Nathan E. Cook dies in a VA nursing home at
age 106.
October -- VA presents its first nationwide quality-achievement award, the Robert W. Carey Quality
Award, to the Philadelphia Regional Office and Insurance, Benefits Delivery and Systems Development
Centers.
Nov/Dec -- Canteen Service makes many changes in its food operations, adding pizza parlors and food
courts with regional themes.
Women Veterans Health Programs Act authorizes new services for women veterans.
Public Law 103-210 establishes eligibility of Gulf War veterans to receive special VA health care.
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder includes sexual assault as a PTSD cause. Vet
Center staff begin sexual assault program with new counselors, counseling and outreach to women
veterans.
National Cemetery System marks 10th consecutive year of interment increases.
VA introduces new national toll-free phone service that routes caller to nearest VA Regional
Office.
1993
January -- VA selects a site at Travis Air Force Base for a VA Medical Center to replace the
Martinez VA Medical Center in Northern California (closed earlier for seismic deficiencies).
March -- VA establishes a new division in the National Center for PTSD devoted to studying
the impact of military trauma on women veterans
VA participates with a number of national task forces and working groups in determining the
role of VA health care under President Clinton's National Health Care Reform proposals.
VA establishes Persian Gulf Health Registry to provide information and health examinations
to Gulf War veterans.
As a result of National Academy of Sciences findings, VA announces that Vietnam veterans
suffering several specific maladies are entitled to disability payments based on their service
in Vietnam and presumed exposure to Agent Orange.
Full-time women veterans coordinator positions funded at 18 medical centers and 34 Vet
Centers.
1994
VA leads celebration of the 50th anniversary of the signing of GI Bill,
highlighted by President Clinton's speech at VA Central Office.
New York Regional Office completely re-engineers its organizational structure and work
processes providing faster, better, less costly service to veterans. Receives first National
Performance Review Hammer Award from Vice President Gore.
VA establishes the Women Veterans Program Office (Center for Women Veterans) to improve services
to women veterans.
1995
"Vision for Change" setting structure for new VHA, is published. VHA initiates
reorganization of veterans health-care system, replacing four medical regions with 22 Veterans
Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) emphasizing patient-focused care and need-based resource
allocation.
VA provides disability payments for Gulf War veterans who have certain chronic disabilities
resulting from undiagnosed illnesses that might result from Gulf War service.
VBA regional offices sell record 24,686 foreclosed properties during the year, generating $1.6
billion. VA property inventory at lowest point in 14 years.
1996
"Prescription for Change" is published. Sets forth VHA mission, goals and
strategic principles to guide re-engineering of VA health-care system.
VA readjustment counseling eligibility extended to veterans of any era who served in a combat
theater.
As a result of the National Academy of Sciences Agent Orange update, VA announces that Vietnam
veterans with certain additional illnesses are entitled to disability payments based on their
service in Vietnam and presumed exposure to Agent Orange.
VA Voluntary Service celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
1997
VA implements the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 by introducing the
veterans' healthcare enrollment program, requiring most veterans to enroll in the VA health-care
system to receive a uniform benefits package.
"Journey of Change" published. Sets strategic targets and initiatives for implementation
of re-engineering of VA health-care system.
VHA begins establishing community-based outpatient clinics across the country to increase points
of access to veterans' health-care system
VHA implements the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) system to allocate its resources
among VISNs on a workload basis.
VA begins providing benefits and services to the Vietnam veterans' children who have the birth
defect spina bifida, in accordance with provisions of Public Law 104-204, based on the National
Academy of Sciences finding of limited/suggestive evidence of association with herbicides used in
Vietnam.
1998
The Veterans' Program Enhancement Act strengthens a number of veterans' benefit programs -
extending VA authority to treat Gulf War veterans, simplifying veterans educational benefits programs,
and strengthening veterans' employment rights.
VA reorganizes its EEO complaint process to create the new Office of Resolution Management, removing
operational managers from the employee complaint handling process.
1999
The Congressional Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance releases its
report to Congress. Proposes upgrading the Montgomery GI Bill education benefits program, broadening
the DoD Transition Assistance Program, providing transition health care for veterans and their families,
and better coordination of VA and DoD health care delivery and medical research.
VHA launches aggressive campaign against hepatitis C, a viral infection.
VHA directs doctors and nurses to incorporate pain management into their standard practice of health
care. Pain measurement made the "fifth vital sign," along with temperature, blood pressure,
pulse and respiration.
VA leads $20 million effort with DoD to conduct large-scale, multi-center clinical trials of two
potentially effective treatments for the undiagnosed illness of Gulf War veterans.
VA launches "One VA" program to enable employees to provide veterans seamless,
customer-driven service.
2000
January -- VA passes through Y2K transition with no computer problems. New law takes effect
insuring military honors at the funeral of any honorably discharged veteran upon request.
VA encourages employees and veterans to participate fully in the U.S. Census 2000.
VA FY2000 budget at $48 billion. Employees number more than 197,000. Veterans population at
just under 25 million.
Bar Code Medication Administration, which improves patient care by reducing medication errors,
receives the Vice President's Hammer Award.
July 21 - Happy 70th birthday, VA!
Veterans can now apply for compensation, pension, rehabilitation benefits and health care on-line
as part of a VA Web page improvement project.
Type II diabetes is added to the list of service-connected conditions for Vietnam veterans based
on presumptive exposure to Agent Orange.
VA helps Census Bureau locate and identify homeless veterans for 2000 Census.
As part of a national program recognized by the White House Millennium Council, VA holds 200
stand downs for homeless veterans in year 2000.
NCA establishes two new Memorial Service Network offices, in Oakland, Calif., and Indianapolis,
to meet growing operational demands.
All 59 VA Civil War-era national cemeteries are listed on National Register or Historic Places.
VA establishes the government's first external accreditation process to increase protection for
participants in human research studies.
The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act moves Purple Heart recipients higher in the
seven-step priority system for VA health care.
VBA adopts "case-management" initiative to improve the processing of compensation and pension
claims.
The Decision Review Officer (DRO) program was expanded at VA Regional Offices to reduce the
number of claims appealed to the Board of Veterans Appeals.
The Veterans Rehabilitation and Counseling (VR&C) Service became the Veterans Rehabilitation
and Employment (VR&E) Service to emphasize its focus on finding jobs for rehabilitated veterans.
NCA opens 118th National Cemetery, the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Texas.
NCA opens 119th National Cemetery, Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Ohio.
2001
VBA hires more than 1,000 full-time employees to help reduce a backlog in veterans' benefits
claims, the largest increase since the Vietnam War.
VHA begins a system-wide self-assessment of its management processes using the Malcolm Baldrige
Criteria for Performance Excellence.
VA establishes of six new VA Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Care Centers.
Researchers supported by VA and DoD find preliminary evidence that veterans who served in the
Gulf War are nearly twice as likely as their non-deployed counterparts to develop Lou Gehrig's Disease.
VA releases recommendations for initial rollout of Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services
(CARES) in VA facilities in Chicago, Wisconsin and upper-Michigan.
VA establishes 12-person Claims Processing Task Force to examine issues affecting the speedy
processing of claims.
VA establishes the Enterprise Architecture Innovation Team to examine of issues affecting VA's
information technology.
The Grand Junction, Colo., VA Medical Center receives the 2001 Presidential Award for Quality.
VA receives the top score in an independent study of performance reports for twenty-four federal
agencies conducted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia.
Following the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil, VA establishes an Office of Operations and
Preparedness.
VA National Center for Patient Safety named one of five winners of the "Innovations in American
Government" awards.
VA establishes Tiger Team to tackle benefit applications of veterans age 70 or older that have
been pending for more than a year.
VA establishes two Centers for the Study of War-Related Illnesses to minimize illness and injury
among veterans in future conflicts and peacekeeping missions.
NCA opens 120th National Cemetery, Fort Sill National Cemetery in Oklahoma.
The Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 allows VA to provide a headstone or marker
for graves that are already marked with private markers for deaths occurring on or after December 27, 2001.
The "Stuart Collick-Heather French Homeless Veterans Assistance Act" significantly enhanced VA's support
for homeless veterans. The law's title recognized the role of Ms. French who, as Miss America, brought
national attention to the plight of homeless veterans.
Family coverage became available for the first time under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance
program (SGLI).
Outreach programs were enhanced to include, among other things, the establishment of overseas veterans
assistance offices to expand transition assistance.
Monthly payments for veterans attending school full-time under the Montgomery GI Bill significantly
increased from $650 (to $800 in 2002, $900 in 2003, and $985 in 2004). Part time rates and rates for
survivors' and dependents' educational assistance also increased.
Montgomery GI Bill benefits extended to include certain private technology skills certifiers in the
definition of educational institutions. Accelerated payment to these certifiers was also permitted for
education leading to employment in high technology industries.
VA joins the rest of the federal government in responding to September 11 terrorist attacks.
Department emergency response plan implemented under Executive Branch direction. All facilities
placed on heightened state of alert. VA medical centers in New York respond to emergency needs
in wake of World Trade Tower attack.
VA one of five winners of the "Innovations in American Government" award for reducing adverse
medical events and developing a culture of safety.
Antivirus software is deployed nationwide on VA's 220,000 computers.
2002
Congress establishes 12-member Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Veterans' Illnesses to advise the VA Secretary on proposed research studies.
VA mergers VISN 13, headquartered in Minneapolis, and VISN 14, headquartered
in Lincoln, Neb., to create a new health care network called VISN 23.
VA announces decision to realign health-care resources in northern
Illinois/Wisconsin according to findings of VISN 12 CARES pilot. CARES
implementation begins nationwide.
In the first meeting of the DoD-VA Executive and Health Benefits Councils,
representatives from VA and the Department of Defense examined ways to build a
more collaborative relationship between the two largest Cabinet agencies.
VA makes significant improvement in the quality of claims processing, from 59
percent accuracy rate in 2000 to a 78 percent rate for rating related claims in 2001.
VA receives the "Pinnacle Award" from the American Pharmaceutical Association
Foundation for its creation of a bar code medication administration system.
VA's National Center for Patient Safety receives the John E. Eisenberg Award in
Patient Safety for System Innovation.
Report from VA Procurement Reform Task Force leads to implementation of 60 reforms
in VA's $6 billion a year contracting operations to improve efficiency and extend
buying power in VA health care system.
The President signs legislation allowing a second marker or headstone for veterans
who died on or after September 11, 2001.
2003
The National Cemetery Act of 2003 authorizes VA to build new national cemeteries
to serve veterans in the areas of Bakersfield, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., Jacksonville,
Fla., Sarasota County, Fla., southern Pennsylvania, and Columbia-Greenville, S.C.
VHA records 50 million patient visits in a single year (inpatient and outpatient)
for the first time.
VHA VISN 2 named one of nation's "most wired" hospital and health systems by the
American Hospital Association's publication Hospitals and Health Networks.
VA research leads to identification of two therapies that improve symptoms of Gulf
War veterans' illness.
Secretaries of VA, HSS and HUD jointly announce awards of $35 million in grants to
11 cities to provide services for the homeless.
The VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans marks its 20th anniversary with
ceremonies at the Women in Military Service to America Memorial at Arlington National
Cemetery.
2004
VHA treats more than 5 million discrete patients in one year for the first time.
Number rose dramatically from 3.8 million in 2000 to 5.1 million in 2004.
VA participates in E-Government initiatives with other government partners to make
certain services or information available online.
National Cemetery Administration creates online national gravesite locator, giving
public access to more than 3.5 million burial records of veterans interred in VA cemeteries.
National Cemetery Administration opens its first national training center in St. Louis, Mo.
National Cemetery Administration scores highest on the American Customer Satisfaction
Index of any corporate or government organization ever surveyed.
New rules expand benefits to former POWs making those who suffer strokes or develop
most forms of heart disease eligible for disability compensation. VA launches year-long
outreach program to inform veterans of these new benefits.
With National Cemetery Administration funding, Idaho opens the Idaho State Veterans
Cemetery. Idaho is the last remaining state not to have a state or national veterans
cemetery.
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