History

VA Columbia Missouri Health Care System

Our History

The site of the Columbia, Missouri VA facility was approved in 1963 as a replacement for a hospital in Excelsior Springs, Missouri that closed in 1951. The general medical and surgical facility was constructed between 1968 and 1972. The first patient was admitted to the hospital on April 4, 1972 and in 1975 -- by an act of Congress -- the new facility was renamed the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital.

In order to accommodate a burgeoning demand for outpatient services, clinical addition plans were submitted for Congressional and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) approval in September 1993. The final scope and budget were approved and authority granted in May 1994. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new ambulatory care addition was held on November 27, 1995. The Dedication Ceremony for the new 106,000 square foot addition took place on March 20, 1998.

As the VA healthcare system transformed itself in the mid-1990s, Truman VA underwent significant changes such as establishing Primary Care teams and providers to help manage the health of each enrolled Veteran. To address the need to provide more care in an outpatient setting, inpatient programs were downsized. Enhanced access to health care led to the development of community based outpatient clinics. Today, the Columbia facility is responsible for eight community clinics located in Camdenton, Jefferson City, Kirksville, Marshfield, Mexico, Saint James, Sedalia, and Waynesville.

To upgrade and improve facilities, to address anticipated future needs and to support the facility’s status as a cardiac surgery referral center, a project to replace and renovate the facility’s operating room suite was submitted for consideration in July 2004 and resubmitted every year until it was approved in March 2007. After the project was designed and bid for construction, a construction contract was awarded in June 2009. A Groundbreaking Ceremony was held on August 10, 2009. Approximately 27,000 square feet of new space was added and 12,000 square feet were remodeled. The new space provided for two cardiothoracic OR rooms, an endovascular OR room, two general OR rooms, one special OR room and a cystoscopy room. The renovated space for support functions includes pre-operative preparation, the post-operative anesthetic care unit and space for urology. Infrastructure deficiencies with electrical systems, HVAC systems and space allocations were corrected to improve functionality, work flow and efficiencies. The project was completed in November 2013 - more than a year after the original anticipated date, because the endovascular room was approved as an addition to the project. A small addition to the new OR suite building and an extension to the renovated imaging services area was constructed to accommodate an in-house MRI in 2013. Other enhancements include construction of sterile processing functions directly below the OR suites and a new, expanded intensive care unit on top of the OR suite building.

Truman VA is located in Columbia, Missouri. A regional hub for education, health care and commerce, Columbia possesses a unique blend of metropolitan flair and Midwestern hospitality. The city, located approximately 120 miles from both Kansas City and St. Louis, has a population of 110,000, including more than 30,000 students from the University of Missouri, Stephens College, Columbia College and several other educational institutions. Several magazines and related surveys consistently rate Columbia as one of the nation's best cities in which to live.