The Beginning
Plans were approved on April 4, 1949, and in October of 1950 ground was broken for a new general medical and surgical veterans hospital.   Due to a newspaper strike during this time, the groundbreaking did not receive as much attention as officials would have liked.   So on June 12, 1951, a steel-erecting ceremony was held.   Another ceremony – a silent flag raising – was held to celebrate the erection of the final piece of steel. 

Many cubic feet of concrete had been pumped into the old mine to provide a solid foundation for the supporting footers.   The building frame was designed to support 18 additional stories if rapid and economical expansion of facilities should ever be made necessary by a national emergency.   The hospital was designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.    

On September 12, 1954, the dedication and formal opening of the University Drive VA Hospital took place.   The dedication took place on the flagstone terrace of what was then the front of the hospital, despite worries of enthusiastic noise from PITT stadium interfering.   Some visiting guests requested to have rooms reserved for them at the Aspinwall VA. The Oakland VA was combined with the Aspinwall VA under one director, Dr. Raymond F. Smith, and approximately 1300 employees.

The cost of construction for this facility was $15 million with an additional $2.5 million in equipment acquisition.   The University Drive VA Hospital was the 171^st hospital in the VA system and the largest general medical and surgical hospital in the Pittsburgh area.   It had 742 operating beds with a plan for the hospital to begin fully operating as qualified staff became available and in accord with patient demand.  

James F. McCarthy reported in a newspaper article that at the time of its opening, the hospital’s chief mechanical inspector, Louis J. Shriver, called this new facility the finest and in the country.   A byline in the article declared “Most Modern in World.”

The Early Years
In the 1960’s the University Drive Division had 700 beds on 16 wards.   Patients enjoyed many types of leisure-time activities including radio and TV, movies, variety shows, parties, a canteen and a general library.   A chapel was located within the hospital and Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish and Protestant chaplains were on the staff.

The hospital was accredited for residency programs, conducted training in numerous medical subspecialties and offered student training programs in affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions in the area.

A Blood Bank was operated at the hospital on weekdays where relatives, volunteers or the general public were invited to contribute blood for use of the hospitalized veteran.

In 1978 one management controlled the University Drive’s 527 bed general medical and surgical facility in addition to Aspinwall’s 432 medical, intermediary, and nursing home care facility.   Also under this management were an outpatient clinic on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, a Wheeling, West Virginia, outpatient sub-clinic, and a drug dependency treatment clinic on Baum Boulevard.

Evolution into a General Medical and Surgical Facility
In the late 1970’s a 20-year legacy of discovery and prevention began at the University Drive Division that has combated the bacterium, Legionella pneumophila, the cause of Legionnaires’ disease.   Warm water distribution systems were identified as the source of the bacterium and developing disinfection methods to control the organism at its source – thus preventing the disease.   The effort has been a multidisciplinary one – involving engineering personnel, nurses, physicians, and microbiologists.   This group of professionals pioneered the control of Legionella in hospital water systems, which has been adopted nationwide.   These investigators are now recognized nationally and internationally as authorities on Legionnaires’ disease.   They are now working with the Environmental Protection Agency and have shown that Legionella can infect individuals through the home water supply.  

On Veterans Day of 1984, an Alaskan stonemason received the first heart transplant at the Oakland VA, marking the start of a general organ transplant program.   At the time, only two other VA hospitals had performed heart transplants.

In December of 1987 a new wing was dedicated at University Drive.   It created an increase in examining rooms in the new ambulatory care section including an emergency room section, a radiology service area, operating room, recovery room, state-of-the-art monitoring, critical care, pharmacy, prosthetic and sensory aids, and supply area. 

In 1963 the Oakland VA parking lot boasted 350 parking spaces.   As the hospital grew that was not enough.   A Valet Parking Initiative was implemented on February 13, 1995.  

University Drive has become a National Liver and Renal Transplant Center.   The Liver Transplant Program was initiated in October 1989.   Since program inception, they have performed 274 liver transplants.   In 2002 a 52-year-old Vietnam Veteran received the first kidney transplant at the VAPHS from a live donor – his son.   To date, a total of eight kidney transplants have been performed, three from live donors.

The VAPHS is a Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion.   The comprehensive Women’s Health Program at VAPHS has twice been honored as a national Clinical Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

A New Bedtower
In March of 1999 construction began on a new Bed Tower addition.   The cost of construction was $12,868,673.   Because of equipment acquisition, the final cost reached $21 million.   In 2002 the Bed Tower was dedicated and patients began moving in.   The renovations and new addition provide our veterans a health care setting with a level of privacy and comfort that they deserve and have earned by serving our nation. This addition is one of many projects that completed in order to position our health system for the future.

University Drive also serves as a Center of Research Excellence in Geriatric Research Educational and Clinical Center (GRECC).   The Center also operates a mobile unit – a 31-foot vehicle equipped with an exam room, a conference room, and a wheelchair lift.

The VAPHS was selected as a National Center of Excellence for Renal Dialysis in 1997, 1999, and 2002.   These awards are for a two-year period.   On April 8, 2003, a new state-of-the-art dialysis unit was opened to provide more comfortable, efficient care to dialysis patients.   It was dedicated on April 16, 2003.

Today University Drive is the major medical and surgical tertiary care facility for veterans in Western Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio and West Virginia with 146 operating beds.

Read the interesting history of the H. John Heinz III Progressive Care Center and the Highland Drive Division that together with University Drive make up the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.  Click here to view, Traditions of Caring - History of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System 1925 - 2003 (PDF file).  This publication requires Acrobat^® Reader^® to print.  Click here to download the appropriate reader for your operating system to access.  Read the Disclaimer.