History

VA Menlo Park 100: Centennial Anniversary

100 years of serving those who served (1923-2023)

VA Palo Alto health care is celebrating 100 years of serving Veterans at our Menlo Park Division, which dates to the World War I (WWI) era when it was originally the site of Camp Fremont. After WWI, most of the original 7,200 acres were sold, leaving approximately 90 acres that were transferred to U.S. Public Health.

Of the more than 5 million Veterans who returned from WWI, 200,000 required hospitalization. Eventually, the land was turned over to the Veterans Bureau in 1922 and after construction, the Menlo Park Division was dedicated on August 1, 1923. President Warren Harding was scheduled to attend the ceremony, but he fell ill and canceled his visit, eventually passing away in his San Francisco hotel on August 2, 1923.

In March 1924, the hospital was fully operational with 21 buildings, including a library, laundry facility, farm, and 10 buildings for staff housing. The hospital started with 450 employees who were required to stay on campus, caring for 14 wards with 550 beds for neuropsychiatric patients.

Following the end of WWII, in 1945, over 15 million Veterans were demobilized, filling VA hospitals to capacity within months. This pushed VA to erect numerous temporary buildings in 1946 on the Menlo Park campus to provide space for the expanding medical services, social services, training facilities, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. This construction continued through 1947.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the Menlo Park campus continued to expand with new buildings to provide more care and services to Veterans. During this time, 2 new psychiatric buildings, a chapel, and a new dietary kitchen and food preparation building were opened. All administrative and most outpatient treatment services were relocated to the newly constructed Core building.

The 1990s was a period of great transformation and growth for the health care system. In 1995, the VA medical centers located in Palo Alto and Livermore integrated to become the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS), one of the first integrated health care systems in VA. The new health care system consisted of 5 sites of care in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Livermore, Monterey, and San Jose. VAPAHCS at the time employed approximately 4,144 employees, and contained 1,314 beds and 147 buildings, on more than 300 acres.

In 2010, the Community Living Center (CLC) at the Menlo Park Division expanded the existing extended care programs with 120 beds. The CLC was followed by a donation of the 10,000 sq. ft. Welcome Center in 2013, which supports therapeutic modalities such as art, music, and recreation, as well as service dog training.

The Menlo Park Division continued to evolve with the construction of the Field House in 2019 that allows for more recreational activities on the campus. VA’s Enhanced Use Lease program allowed for a portion of the campus to be dedicated to Willow Housing, a unique complex of apartments, services, and resources dedicated to serving at-risk and formerly homeless Veterans. A second complex is planned for the near future.

The campus is also home to several national programs including the National Center for PTSD and research centers such as the Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i) and the VA Health Economics Resource Center (HERC). These programs and centers provide research and education, continuously advancing the care we provide for Veterans and their families every day.