History

Our History

A History of the New Mexico VA Health Care System

  The New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System (NMVAHCS) serves Veterans in New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and West Texas.  The NMVAHCS is are part of the VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network, VISN 22.  That network is based in Long Beach, CA, and includes Prescott, Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, Greater Los Angeles, Loma Linda, Long Beach and San Diego.
 
  The Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque is a Joint Commission accredited, VHA complexity level 1b, tertiary care referral center with a 24-hour Emergency Room located in the heart of the Land of Enchantment.  Known for decades as the New Mexico VA Medical Center, the facility was renamed the “Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center” in 2008 for Korean War Veteran Raymond Gerald “Jerry” Murphy, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his combat service.  Mr. Murphy worked for the Veterans Benefits Administration (Regional Office) in Albuquerque after the war, and later served as a volunteer at the medical center. 
 
 The following is an excerpt from from a history of the medical center, written in 1962:

“The Veterans Administration Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, opened its doors on August 22, 1932. Formal dedication of the hospi¬tal took place on Sunday afternoon, 3:00 P.M., August 14, 1932, with a personal representative of the Veterans Administration, heads of various Veterans organizations and prominent citizens from all parts of New Mexico participating.
Veteran Jose B. Valdez of Parkview, New Mexico, holds Register No. 1, since he was the first patient admitted to the Veterans Admin¬istration Hospital following its dedication on August 14, 1932. Mr. Valdez was admitted on August 22, 1932, and his last admission to the hospital was March 26, 1961. Mr. Valdez is a World War I veteran who saw action in France with the 166th Heavy Artillery in 1917-1918.
 
The hospital originally occupied a site of 516 acres, located on the mesa along the southeastern city boundary of Albuquerque, of which 74.6 acres were fenced in and 441 acres leased to the War Department. This land was donated by the War Memorial Mothers' Association. 
 
The architecture of the institution was planned to harmonize with the New Mexico scene.  It is a modified Pueblo type and resembles closely the native American design of the Indian Village of Taos.  The Pueblo type was maintained throughout and strikingly emphasized by the tile-paved patios and deep porches and by the huge vigas, which were used with striking effect in the exterior construction.
The buildings were grouped in an irregular circle providing a partial enclosure.  This arrangement was planned for greatest utility, as well as beauty.  Tile-covered walks, some of them with lower and upper decks, connected the administration building and general hospi¬tal with the dining halls and the building for the tuberculosis patients.
 
The surgical suite in the hospital and its equipment was compar¬able with the best in any general hospital in the largest city of the country, with two operating suites, sterilizing room, preparation room, anesthetizing room, nurses’ stations, doctors’ offices, and a complete surgical ward.
 
A complete Dental Service was installed, consisting of a Chief of the Dental Service, one dentist, one dental mechanic and one den¬tal assistant.  It was equipped with a thoroughly complete dental unit, x-ray and anesthesia machines.
 
The hospital was equipped with every modern convenience for the proper storage, handling and preparation of food, cold storage rooms for meat and vegetables, and a cooling room for supplies, such as bacon, butter, lard, etc. A modern ice cream plant, bakery, staple food storage rooms, dish sterilizing room, separate dietary unit for each class of patients were installed.  There were four dining rooms for the general cases, the tuberculosis patients, the staff, and for the attendants.  In addition to this, a fully equipped and complete diet kitchen in each ward for tray service and special diets, with ar electric tray cart for the transporting of hot foods from the diet kitchen to the bedside, was provided.  The hospital kitchens were spacious and included a butcher shop and vegetable preparation room.
 
Small open porches were provided for those in need of rest in open air. Each bed was provided with earphones and programs were tuned in at the master control board in the Recreation Building. The reading room and recreation hall were popular spots.  Bingo parties, movies and similar entertainment were held in the recreation hall at frequent intervals. Books from the central library were brought to the bed patients by a trained librarian.
 
A complete hydrotherapy unit was installed with needle showers, continuous flow baths, electric cabinets and electrocardiograph mach¬ines for heart diagnosis. Rehabilitation work went on for both bed¬fast and ambulant patients.
 
A complete, modern genito-urinary table, with X-ray attachments for the taking of pyelograms and other pictures peculiar to the G.U. service, was provided.
 
The X-ray Department was complete in every detail, was located on the main floor of the administration building, and was easily accessible to outpatients and hospital patients alike. The hospital’s heating plant, originally constructed to provide for future expansion, is gas-fired and extremely efficient. A fleet of trucks is required to carry on the hospital’s work.  A fire truck is maintained, ready for instant use.
 
In 1943, the Veterans Administration made a study of the facili¬ties of the Albuquerque Veterans Administration Hospital for possible expansion. Construction of a 267-bed addition, called Building 20, was started on July 20, 1949. The building is of concrete con¬struction and it harmonizes architectually  with the other  hospital buildings.  Total cost was around $3,250,000.   The building contains a large kitchen, dining room, chapel, recreation hall, library, labora¬tory, radiology unit, surgical suite, occupational therapy shops, and a  mental hygiene clinic. The new hospital building was dedicated on June 10, 1951, by General Gray, Administrator of the Veterans Admini¬stration.”

The medical center constructed its own water well and storage tank in 1957.  Building 20 gave way to construction of Building 41 in November 1986.  Considered the main medical center, Bldg. 41 has also had many renovations and additions over the past quarter century. It was originally constructed with six regular floors, but the building is actually twice the height of traditional six-story buildings, due to interstitial floors for mechanical space between each floor. 
  
Another major addition to the campus came in October 1990 with the construction of Building 45, the Zia Spinal Cord Injury Center.  In addition to inpatient beds, the SCI Unit includes an indoor therapy pool, a wheelchair repair department, a physical therapy gym, and an outdoor recreation courtyard.
 
In the early 1990s, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) - one of the three administrations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) - began developing a strategy to expand its capacity to provide outpatient primary care, especially for Veterans who had to travel long distances to receive care at VA facilities. To facilitate access to primary care closer to where Veterans reside, VHA began implementing a system for approving and establishing Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).  The CBOCs are medical centers that provide a variety of primary care services to eligible Veterans. This include, primary care, preventive care, immunizations and vaccinations, prescription of medications, mental health, social work, counseling & group therapy, laboratory testing & X-ray services, telehealth, women's care, referral to specialists and/or the local VA hospital as appropriate, etc. It should be noted that the type of medical services available at a CBOC can vary from clinic to clinic. The following are the Community Based Outpatient Clinics under the New Mexico VA Health Care System:  Alamogordo, Artesia, Durango (Colorado), Española, Farmington, Gallup, Las Vegas, Northwest Metro - Rio Rancho, Raton, Santa Fe, Silver City, Taos, and Truth or Consequences.
 
Along with construction changes over the years has come a vast growth in the medical center’s labor force.  In the 1940s, the hospital employed the services of about 300 employees.  By 1962, that number had grown to 724.  More than 50 years later, the NMVAHCS now has more than 2,100 employees. About one third of its employees are Veterans.