About us

About VA Maine Healthcare System 

The VA Maine 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 10 locations serving Maine. Facilities include our Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta, seven community-based outpatient clinics in Bangor, Calais, Lewiston, Lincoln, Portland, Presque Isle,  and Rumford, and two Access Clinics in Fort Kent and Houlton. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Maine health services page. 

The VA Maine Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA New England Healthcare System. We’re an innovative care center within the VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1), which includes medical centers and clinics in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

Learn more about VISN 1 

Research and development

At the Togus VA Medical Center, we conduct research to discover knowledge, develop VA scientists and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for Veterans and the nation. 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.

Major research areas include:

• Moral Injury
• Health Care System Resilience
• Million Veterans Program
• Post operative Opiate Use
• Neuropsychological Function Testing
• Whole Health Involvement and Medication Compliance

Teaching and learning

Togus VA Medical Center is a general medicine and teaching hospital that provides a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We offer specialized training programs in advanced general dentistry, clinical psychology, and neuropsychology.

We maintain affiliations with:

• University of New England College of Medicine
• University of Maine School of Nursing
• University of Southern Maine
• New England College of Optometry
• University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy
• Husson University School of Pharmacy
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Creighton University
• Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine
• Maine Medical Center
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
• Northern Lights Medical System
• Nova Southeastern University
• Pepperdine University
• Southern and Central Maine Community Colleges
• St. Johns University
• Tufts University
• University of Albany
• University of Florida
• University of Mississippi
• University of Nebraska
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Carolina
• University of Rhode Island

We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Fast facts

• VA Maine Healthcare System's Togus VA Medical Center (VAMC) is a Joint Commission accredited, complexity Level 1c facility in Augusta, Maine that serves over 42, 500 Veterans. Full-time community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) are located in Bangor, Calais, Lewiston, Lincoln, Portland, Presque Isle and Rumford. Part-time access clinics are located in Fort Kent and Houlton.
• Togus VAMC is a 67-operating bed facility with general medical, surgical, intermediate and mental health beds, as well as a 100 beds including hospice, dementia, long-stay, and skilled. The oldest veterans' facility in the country, having opened in the fall of 1866, Togus is located five miles east of Augusta, the state capital. Togus campus encompasses 500+ acres of buildings and natural woodlands serving as natural habitats for Maine's wildlife. Additionally, the National Cemetery is located on the Togus campus.
• The Togus VA Medical Center property was originally used as a summer resort called Togus Springs. Togus Springs was established in 1859 by Horace Beals, a wealthy granite merchant from Rockland, Maine. The name “Togus” comes from the Native American word Worromontogus, which means “mineral water.”
• Togus Springs resort closed during the Civil War in 1863. The site was converted into a Veteran residential facility. The first Veteran was admitted on Nov. 10, 1866.
• The Veteran population at the Togus residential facility remained under 400 until a building program began in 1868. The expansion of Togus resulted in a residential population of more than 3,000 Veterans. Over time, the role of Togus changed. It officially became a VA facility in 1930. By the end of World War II, Togus had become a full-service medical center. 
• VA Maine Healthcare System began constructing a new facility in Portland on July 17, 2020. This 62,500 square foot, state-of-the-art location will replace the Portland and Saco VA clinics without disruption of care to Veterans during the transition.

Accreditations and achievements 

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

• The Joint Commission
• American Association of Blood Banks for Transfusion Activities, 2008-2010
• American Board for Certification in Orthotics/Prosthetics/Pedorthics, Inc. for the Orthotic Laboratory, 2008-2011
• American Diabetes Association Diabetes Self-Management Education Program, 2007-2010
• American Psychological Association for Internship Program in Psychology, 2005-2012
• American Society of Health System Pharmacists Residency Program in Pharmacy Practice, 2008-2010
• College of American Pathologists (CAP), 2006-2008
• Commission on Dental Accreditation - Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program, 2007-2013
• Joint Commission Triennial Site Visit, May, 2006
• VA Office of Inspector General Combined Assessment Program Review, September 2008
• VHA National Health Physics Program Permit, 2005-2010