History
Explore the rich heritage of the Montana VA Health Care System.
Fort Harrison VA Medical Center
Fort Harrison VA Medical Center began as a military post in 1892 when it played a key role in supporting Helena's economy during the Panic of 1893, a nationwide economic depression. Government officials originally named the fort after Benjamin Harrison, who was the sitting U.S. president. In 1906, after realizing an Indianapolis fort shared the same name, they renamed Montana’s fort after U.S. President William Henry Harrison, who was Benjamin Harrison’s grandson.
By 1919, after the end of World War I, Fort Harrison and many other military reservations were considered unnecessary as forts, but valuable as sites for Veterans hospitals. In May 1922, Fort Harrison opened as a VA tuberculosis sanitarium, with sleeping porches for “sick and disabled former soldiers, sailors, and marines” to take advantage of the Rocky Mountain region’s “dry vigorous mountain air.”
The hospital was rebuilt and repaired in October 1935 after earthquakes destroyed many buildings in the Helena area. In 1963, as the Vietnam War escalated, we expanded Fort Harrison VA Medical Center further with Building #154, which is now our main hospital building.
Today, Fort Harrison VA Medical Center is a 34-bed acute care hospital with 6 intensive care unit beds, a medical-surgical facility, and a 24-bed inpatient residential rehabilitation facility. Fort Harrison VA Medical Center is part of the Montana VA Health Care System, which covers 147,000 square miles of primarily rural communities.
In 1994, we began a network of community-based clinics to serve Veterans closer to home. In addition to our hospital, we now offer 16 clinics across the state, where about 80% of our Veterans receive their primary care.
VA Montana Healthcare System is part of the Veterans Integrated Service Network 19 (VISN 19), which operates 8 health care systems across 10 states. VISN 19, also called VA Rocky Mountain Network, spans 540,000 square miles and is geographically the largest VISN in the contiguous 48 states.