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About us

At the VA Alexandria Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families every day.

About the VA Alexandria Healthcare System 

The VA Alexandria Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. 

Health care and services

We provide you with health care services at 7 locations in Louisiana: our Alexandria VA Medical Center and 6 community-based outpatient clinics, 1 each in Fort Polk, Jennings, Lake Charles, and Natchitoches, and 2 in Lafayette. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Alexandria health services page.

The VA Alexandria Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the South Central VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 16 (VISN 16), which includes medical centers and clinics in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Southeast Texas, and Northwest Florida.

Medical Center Director's Environmental Policy Statement:

Our mission is to “Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being”.  The Alexandria VA Health Care System (AVAHCS) will conduct its mission in a manner that protects human health and the environment, promotes the principles of environmental stewardship within our community, and strives for continuous improvement in our processes.  The AVAHCS will comply with all applicable Agency, Federal, State and local environmental laws, regulations and directives governing its activities and ensure compliance by implementing a facility-wide environmental management system.  Beyond compliance, we shall implement procedures and policies that emphasize pollution prevention and waste minimization as a means to achieve, maintain, and demonstrate excellence in environmental stewardship.

Learn more about VISN 16

Research and development

We conduct research to discover knowledge, develop VA scientists and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for Veterans and the nation. We offer Veterans the opportunity to participate in and benefit from our work. Our goal is to use research to promote better health and health care for all. 

Teaching and learning

Alexandria VA Medical Center is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. Our medical center has affiliations with Tulane University of School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Medical School, Northeast Louisiana University, Northwestern State University, Our Lady of the Lake University, Louisiana College, Alcorn State University, Alexandria Vo-Tech, Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, Central Louisiana State Hospital, Xavier University, and Southern University. 
 
We offer residency training in many major medical specialties and subspecialties, including family medicine, preventive medicine, ophthalmology, and clinical pharmacology.
 
We also train physician assistants and provide associated health training in nursing, psychology, pharmacy, audiology, dietetics, speech pathology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreation therapy, biomedical engineering, and social work. 

We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Fast facts

  • We serve a potential population of more than 100,000 Veterans and an active patient roster of more than 37,000. 
  • Our medical center provides surgical and medical services through 2 wards, 5 operating rooms and a post-anesthesia care unit. 
  • Our extended care program includes 2 nursing home care units, including an 18-bed Alzheimer's unit with an enclosed walking yard.
  • The Alexandria VA Medical Center is one of three specialty referral facilities in VISN 16 for acute and intermediate psychiatric care. We also receive long-term psychiatry referrals from other VA facilities in the South Central VA Health Care Network and in bordering states.

Accreditations and achievements 

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

  • The Joint Commission
  • American Psychological Association

The VA Alexandria Healthcare System received the following awards:

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Affiliations

VAMC Alexandria has active affiliations with the Tulane University of School of Medicine (with residency programs in preventive medicine and ophthalmology) and LSU Medical School (with residency programs in family medicine, clinical pharmacology, and physician assistants). Other affiliations include:

  • Northeast Louisiana University - speech pathology
  • Northwestern State University - physical therapy, occupational therapy, and recreation therapy
  • Louisiana State University - nursing and social work
  • Our Lady of the Lake University - nursing
  • Louisiana College - occupational therapy and recreation therapy
  • Alcorn State University - occupational therapy and recreation therapy
  • Alexandria Vo-Tech - occupational therapy and recreation therapy
  • Louisiana State University (Alexandria) - occupational therapy and recreation therapy
  • Grambling State University - associate dietetics program and recreation therapy
  • Louisiana Tech University - audiology, psychology, biomedical engineering, physical therapy, and dietetics
  • Central Louisiana State Hospital - physical therapy
  • Xavier University - pharmacy
  • Southern University - recreation therapy
  • Tulane University - social work

Annual reports and newsletters

Annual reports

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Newsletters

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