History
Explore the rich heritage of the VA Bay Pines Healthcare System.
In the wake of World War I, on January 5, 1929, Senator Duncan U. Fletcher introduced a bill that would appropriate funds for a Soldiers' Home to be constructed in Florida. Ultimately the bill’s wording was changed from "Florida" to "southeastern states," but it did pass and appropriate $2 million for a home.
Within Pinellas County, a campaign immediately began to rally support for construction in the area. Seminole Point was chosen as the site on May 26, 1931 - an event which newspapers called the "glorious news" that will "bring Saint Petersburg back." Approximately 900,000 in funds was appropriated, due to a decision to use the $2 million also to construct a hospital in Mississippi and an African-American hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Construction of the first three buildings (what are now buildings 1, 2, and 13), a gatehouse, and employee living quarters were completed in 1933. The hospital was built by James I. Barnes Company from Indiana and the living quarters by J. M. Raymond Construction Company from Jacksonville. The main hospital, under the name "National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers," and the domiciliary unit opened on March 16, 1933. Within days seventeen men joined the domiciliary. The first to join was Pat Corr of St. Petersburg. The hospital, however, did not treat its first patient, Charles Boone (Veterans of Foreign Wars State Commander from Miami) until March 19, 1933.
In 1934 Seminole Point was renamed Bay Pines. Construction continued, as plans were already in place for a Recreation Building (Building 20, completed in 1935), an expanded domiciliary (completed in 1940), and convalescent homes, when the main building opened. Additionally, the VA Regional Office of Florida was moved from Jacksonville, where they had been located since 1925. Until World War II, construction was non-stop: a 52-bed domiciliary for female veterans opened in 1937 (building 24), a new hospital wing increased bed capacity to 245, and a hydrotherapy treatment pavilion on Madeira Beach was constructed in 1934.
World War II brought a surge in patients for which initial construction could not have planned. To increase space, the Regional Offices were moved to the Don Ce-Sar, recently vacated by the Army Air Corps., on Pass-a-Grille Beach and some offices, a brace shop, a chapel, and the library were moved to temporary Quonset-type huts.
The Bay Pines VA campus was larger than needed and portions of the surplus land was given away to the local community, beginning with 18 acres in 1955 for the construction of Madeira Beach School. Later issuances of land include 359 acres in 1966 to Pinellas County for War Memorial Park, 60 acres in 1973 to St. Petersburg Junior College, and 17.6 acres in 1974 to the Florida Department of Transportation.
In September 1959, funds were approved for a much-needed 140 bed addition to be constructed in 1963. Additionally a domiciliary building was converted to add 160 hospital beds, opening by October 8, 1961. The 1963 hospital was never completed. Instead, a new VA Hospital was announced for Gainesville, Florida. Although the issue would resurface many times in the following 15 years, new hospital construction would not be announced again until the late 1970’s.
The next major construction project was the original Nursing Home Care Unit, opened in 1973. Then in 1976, following the efforts of Congressman Bill Young and a visit by President Ford, $110 million in appropriations was announced for an addition to the Nursing Home Care Unit, a new domiciliary, a replacement hospital (Building 100) and renovations for Buildings 1 and 22. Prior to those projects, Building 23, the Clinical support Building opened on June 13, 1977.
The Nursing Home Care Unit addition and replacement Domiciliary were completed quickly - bids were accepted starting June 22, 1978 and both were dedicated October 21, 1980. The replacement hospital, however, was not completed until 1983 and dedicated on March 16, 1983. The restoration of Buildings 1 and 22 was not completed until July 1987.
In September 1998 the Regional Office returned to Bay Pines with the completion of a three-story, 125 thousand square feet building on-site. Previously, the Regional Office had moved from the Don Ce-Sar to a federal building on First Avenue in St. Petersburg in 1967.
Since its original construction in 1933, Bay Pines has continued to expand and adapt to meet the increasing needs of the Veterans it serves.