Tulsa VA Hospital scheduled to open in 2024
In 2024, the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System will expand health care for Veterans by opening a new 58-bed VA hospital in Tulsa.
Located at 7th and Houston in downtown Tulsa, the VA hospital will be part of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Medical Center Campus and the first VA hospital in the nation built as part of a public-private partnership.
The project is a combination of federal and private funds from the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation. The State of Oklahoma is also assisting by donating the Kerr-Edmondson buildings, which will be converted into the hospital. In addition, the City of Tulsa has committed to building a parking garage on site.
On Oct. 15, national and local VA officials joined OSU, private donors and other city and state officials to celebrate the partnership and to ceremoniously break ground on the future hospital.
VA Expansion in Tulsa
The new hospital is part of VA’s efforts to expand services in the Tulsa metro area and northeast Oklahoma. While EOVAHCS serves Veterans in 25 counties in eastern Oklahoma, approximately 72% of Veterans live in the Tulsa metro area.
In July 2021, VA opened the new Ernest Childers VA Outpatient Clinic at 8921 South Mingo Road in Tulsa. The new clinic is more than four times the size of the previous Tulsa Clinic and offers new services such as endoscopy, chemotherapy/infusion, mammography, and expanded outpatient services.
In 2022, VA will open a new outpatient clinic in Bartlesville, which provides Veterans care closer to home vs. driving to Tulsa.
Future of the Muskogee Campus
After a transition period, the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee will become a regional hub for VA mental health care and will serve Veterans not only from eastern Oklahoma but from Oklahoma City and neighboring states as well.
While the Muskogee campus will not provide emergency and medical-surgical care, it will have more than 90 beds that will include the following:
- Community living center
- Long-term acute care
- Hospice
- Geriatric psychiatry
- Inpatient psychiatry
- Substance abuse treatment
In addition to inpatient services, the Muskogee campus will continue to offer outpatient primary and specialty care.
“The new VA hospital in Tulsa is a historic victory that will offer long lasting and far-reaching benefits for our Veterans, the VA, and our community," said Mark E. Morgan, director, Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care Center. "By expanding services in Tulsa, the health care system will be strategically positioned to provide the highest level of care to our Veterans for decades to come. We have begun planning and analysis to convert the Jack C. Montgomery Medical Center in Muskogee. These efforts include consideration of expanding behavioral health, rehabilitation, and long-term care for veterans in Oklahoma and surrounding states.”
Information on the CHIP-IN Act
On Dec. 27, 2020, President Trump signed a law approving $120 million in federal funding for the Veterans Hospital in Tulsa (VHiT).
The Tulsa hospital is the first VA hospital built under the Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016 (CHIP-IN Act).
The act authorizes VA to form a public-private partnership and accept up to five donations from non-federal entities.