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About us

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

About VA Central Texas Healthcare System 

The VA Central Texas 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 11 locations serving central Texas. Our hospitals are the Olin E. Teague Veterans Medical Center in Temple and the Doris Miller VA Medical Center in Waco. We also operate a stand-alone multispecialty clinic in Austin, and 8 community-based outpatient clinics in Brownwood, Cedar Park, College Station, Copperas Cove, Killeen, Palestine, La Grange, and Temple.

To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Central Texas health services page.

The VA Central Texas Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 (VISN 17), which includes medical centers and clinics in Texas and New Mexico.

Learn more about VISN 17

Research and development

At Olin E. Teague Veterans Medical Center, we conduct research on more than 115 projects to discover knowledge, develop VA scientists and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for Veterans and the nation.

We collaborate with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and its primary affiliate, the Scott and White Health Care System. Our $11.5 million VA research institute attracts world-class researchers to central Texas.

We have a close relationship with the Army base at Fort Hood, which has the largest troop commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND). Located only 25 miles from Fort Hood, researchers at our Temple medical center collaborate with Fort Hood physicians in offering transitional medical services for service members and Veterans. We also conduct research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), which are common conditions from those conflicts.

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.

Our research program collaborates with Texas A&M Health Science Center and its primary affiliate, the Scott and White Health Care system. Though this partnership, we’ve expanded our research program to include 8 areas of emphasis:

  • VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans
  • Center for Applied Research, Department of Internal Medicine
  • Oncology, Medical Service
  • Infectious Disease, Medical Service
  • Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery
  • Neuroscience Institute, Department of Surgery
  • Digestive Diseases Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine
  • Molecular Cardiology Division, Department of Internal Medicine

Teaching and learning

Olin E. Teague Veterans Medical Center is a full-service teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We provide professional training in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties, including:

  • Anesthesiology
  • Cardiology
  • Dermatology
  • Endocrinology
  • Ear, nose, and throat (otorhinolaryngology)
  • Family medicine
  • Gastroenterology
  • General surgery
  • Internal medicine
  • Neurology
  • Orthopedics
  • Pathology
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation
  • Plastic surgery
  • Preventative medicine
  • Psychiatry
  • Pulmonary
  • Radiology
  • Vascular surgery

With more than 125 affiliation agreements for 240 training programs across the country, our facilities provide training to more than 1,500 students each year. We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Our affiliated academic and professional education institutions include:

  • University of Texas at Austin
  • University of Texas at Arlington
  • University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
  • Temple College
  • Central Texas College
  • McLennan Community College

Fast facts

  • VA Central Texas health care serves more than 252,000 Veterans in 39 counties.
  • Our service area covers over 35,000 square miles and 10 congressional districts.
  • In 2022, we treated 116,359 Veterans. We registered 5,393 inpatient admissions and completed more than 1.3 million outpatient visits.
  • Our Blind Rehabilitation Unit in Waco is 1 of only 12 in the nation.
  • Doris Miller VA Medical Center in Waco includes a rehabilitation unit for Veterans with severe mental injuries.
  • The 40-bed Psychosocial Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program at our Waco hospital is the only one of its kind in Texas.
  • Our Temple hospital is named for Olin Earl “Tiger” Teague, who was an Army colonel during World War II, and later represented the Texas’ 6th district in Congress.
  • Our medical center in Waco is named for Doris “Dorie” Miller, a Navy cook who was the first Black American to be awarded the Navy Cross. He was killed in action during World War II.

Accreditations and achievements 

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

  • Joint Commission
  •  Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities 

The VA Central Texas Healthcare System has received the following awards:

Coming soon!