Dr. Rodney S. Gonzalez was appointed as the Director of the Amarillo VA Health Care System (AVAHCS) on June 7, 2020.
Dr. Gonzalez is responsible for all Veteran health care services under the umbrella of the AVAHCS, a Joint Commission accredited, complexity level-2 facility with 44 operating beds and 120 Community Living Center beds. With a budget of more than $220,000,000 and approximately 1,250 employees, this health care system serves more than 27,000 Veterans in 50 counties in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, as well as eastern New Mexico.
The Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas, serves as the main campus and provides inpatient, outpatient, and specialty care services, along with key administrative support services. The Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Lubbock, Texas, provides outpatient and specialty care services, while three other clinics located in Childress, Texas; Clovis, New Mexico; and Dalhart, Texas provide primary care and tele-medicine services.
Dr. Gonzalez has nearly 30 years of service in the U.S. Army and health care with experience in executive-level management, policy development, strategic planning and programming, operations, and communications. Prior to joining the VA, Dr. Gonzalez served as Chief of Staff (Deputy Director) for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
During his military career, Dr. Gonzalez had multiple deployments to Kuwait and Iraq in support of the Global War on Terrorism. He served in numerous leadership positions to include Interim Director of two hospitals, Deputy Commander, Clinic Commander and Command Surgeon.
Dr. Gonzalez is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and was subsequently commissioned into the Army Medical Service Corps in 1993. He graduated from New York Medical College and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1998. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2020 with the rank of Colonel.
