Birmingham VA celebrates 70 years of service

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Birmingham VA Health Care System

On March 16, 1953, the Birmingham VA Health Care System (BVAHCS) opened its doors to Veterans in the historic southside district of Birmingham, Alabama. Today, the medical center is a level 1A acute tertiary medical and surgical care center with 10 community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) located in Anniston-Oxford, Bessemer, Childersburg, Guntersville, Gadsden, Huntsville, Jasper, Shoals, and two in Birmingham. The health care system employs more than 3,000 staff members that serve over 71,000 Veterans in Alabama. The Birmingham VA celebrates 70 years March 16, 2023.

As a high reliability organization, the Birmingham VA provides comprehensive primary and tertiary health care in the areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, dentistry, geriatrics, and is a recognized leader in palliative care and multiple sclerosis. Most notably, BVAHCS is one of eight VA medical centers around the country that performs kidney transplants and one of 13 VA medical centers that offers a Blind Rehab Center. Additionally, BVAHCS has ongoing initiatives and programs that include Suicide Prevention, the Homeless Veterans Program, Post 9/11 Transition and Case Management, and the Women’s Health Program that serves over 8,900 women Veterans in Alabama.

The Birmingham VA is an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 (VISN 7) and is one of the leading health care systems that serves Veterans in the VA Southeast Network, which includes medical centers and clinics in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Partners in health

The Birmingham VA is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. BVAHCS provides professional training in all major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. 

The Birmingham VA is affiliated with 102 college and university programs in many-allied health fields and with 36 different colleges/universities. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine is the primary clinical affiliation and longtime partner of BVAHCS. Each year almost 700 physician residents from UAB Medical School rotate at BVAHCS and over 115 medical students rotate at BVAHCS each academic year. A fully integrated dental affiliation exists with the UAB School of Dentistry with 14 dental residents who rotate through the Dental Service annually. BVAHCS also has affiliations with the UAB Schools of Nursing, Dentistry, Optometry, and Health Professions.

UAB is an integral part of the BVAHCS health care delivery team and is an essential part in providing the highest quality care to Veterans. BVAHCS has developed numerous partnerships with UAB in the areas of research, quality scholars, and training of healthcare professionals.

Groundbreaking Research

Research at the Birmingham VA is conducted by award winning research scientists in collaboration with UAB. Grants funded through VA support numerous clinical and basic research projects.

In 2019, BVAHCS began collaborating with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to increase the number of Oncology Research projects available to Veterans. LungMAP is one of the biggest projects to date with multiple sub-studies under its umbrella – currently three of those are being done at BVAHCS. In 2021, BVAHCS received a $1.5 million grant to develop a Lung Precision Oncology Program (LPOP). The project aims to improve lung cancer screening among Veterans, whose cancer often goes undetected until later stages. BVAHCS takes part in the same focus of Precision Medicine in the Pharmacogenomics Testing for Veterans (PhASER). This study provides DNA testing for common, actionable, genetic variants that affect drug metabolism that can impact drug dosing in patients. Additionally, BVAHCS participates in the VA National Million Veterans Program (MVP), recruiting 25,000 of Alabama Veterans to learn how genes, lifestyle, and military exposures affect health and illness. MVP is one of the world's largest programs on genetics and health.

The Birmingham VA is also an active partner in the Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center. The health care system’s research mission is to improve the capability of the VA to provide services that meet the medical, psychological, and social needs of Veterans through research, education and innovative clinical services. 

Raising the bar in Veterans and Employee experience

The Birmingham VA is recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as an Age-Friendly Health System Committed to Care Excellence. BVAHCS also achieved Top-Performer status in 2020 for attaining a score of 100 in the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

The Birmingham VA is proud to join the Department of Veterans Affairs ranking as the fifth best employer in Alabama for the Forbes’ 2022 America’s Best Employers list. BVAHCS is also ranked #1 in the region for Care Transition out of 37 health care systems, according to Medicare’s 2022 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient survey report. Additionally, BVAHCS received a 4-star patient experience rating in Medicare’s 2022 HCAHPS patient survey report.

The Future State: Strive for Excellence, Listen, Change

The Birmingham VA is honored and dedicated to caring for Veterans and emphasizing the Veteran experience. BVAHCS believes the only way a health care system can improve on what’s already good is to listen, put changes in effect, and strive for the excellence Veterans expect. It is the privilege of the Birmingham VA to serve the greatest population of women and men in the United States—the Veterans who have served in uniform, protecting our nation and its citizens.