Since 1930, when President Herbert Hoover created the Veterans Administration (now called the Department of Veterans Affairs) the VA has provided medical services for veterans who have been honorably discharged, whether they served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force. Here are 50 of the most decorated war heroes in American history.
There were about 19 million veterans in the U.S. in 2021, according to Pew Research Center,
with over 9 million enrolled in the VA health care program. With 1,298 VA health care facilities serving veterans, the Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care system in the United States.
The backbone of veterans medical services are the 171 VA Medical Centers around the country, which provide primary care, surgery, physical therapy, mental health services, pharmacies, and additional specialty services like oncology, prosthetics, and dental care. The service capacities of these centers vary widely, depending on their size.
To determine America’s largest military hospitals, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 50 largest VA hospitals by number of staffed beds, a ranking by health care market data and analytics firm Definitive Healthcare. Hospitals were ranked based on the number of staffed beds. The directory includes Veterans Medical Centers in U.S. states and territories. Network information is from VA.gov.
The largest VA hospital on our list has 716 staffed beds, which places it among the ranks of the largest hospitals in the nation. Of the largest VA Medical Centers, most are clustered in the Northeast, the South, and the Midwest, and many are in densely-populated urban areas, including Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, and Minneapolis. This is the state with the most VA hospitals.
Click here to see America’s largest veterans hospitals.
50. Lexington VA Medical Center – Troy Bowling Campus
> Location: Lexington, Kentucky
> Number of beds: 199
> Network: VA MidSouth Healthcare Network
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49. Buffalo VA Medical Center
> Location: Buffalo, New York
> Number of beds: 199
> Network: VA New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network
48. Lexington VA Medical Center – Franklin R Sousley Campus
> Location: Lexington, Kentucky
> Number of beds: 199
> Network: VA MidSouth Healthcare Network
47. Captain James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center
> Location: North Chicago, Illinois
> Number of beds: 199
> Network: VA Great Lakes Health Care System
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46. New Orleans VA Medical Center
> Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
> Number of beds: 200
> Network: VA South Central VA Health Care Network
45. Jesse Brown VA Medical Center
> Location: Chicago, Illinois
> Number of beds: 200
> Network: VA Great Lakes Health Care System
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44. Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
> Location: Waco, Texas
> Number of beds: 204
> Network: VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network
43. Sheridan VA Medical Center
> Location: Sheridan, Wyoming
> Number of beds: 208
> Network: VA Rocky Mountain Network
42. William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center
> Location: Columbia, South Carolina
> Number of beds: 216
> Network: VA Southeast Network
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41. West Haven VA Medical Center
> Location: West Haven, Connecticut
> Number of beds: 216
> Network: VA New England Healthcare System
40. Canandaigua VA Medical Center
> Location: Canandaigua, New York
> Number of beds: 218
> Network: VA New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network
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39. Kerrville VA Medical Center
> Location: Kerrville, Texas
> Number of beds: 226
> Network: VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network
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38. Portland VA Medical Center – Main Campus
> Location: Portland, Oregon
> Number of beds: 231
> Network: VA Northwest Health Network
37. Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center
> Location: Long Beach, California
> Number of beds: 237
> Network: VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network
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36. Nashville VA Medical Center
> Location: Nashville, Tennessee
> Number of beds: 238
> Network: VA MidSouth Healthcare Network
35. Fort Wayne VA Medical Center
> Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
> Number of beds: 243
> Network: VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio Indiana and Michigan
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34. Memphis VA Medical Center
> Location: Memphis, Tennessee
> Number of beds: 244
> Network: VA MidSouth Healthcare Network
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33. Tomah VA Medical Center
> Location: Tomah, Wisconsin
> Number of beds: 246
> Network: VA Great Lakes Health Care System
32. West Palm Beach VA Medical Center
> Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
> Number of beds: 254
> Network: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
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31. Audie L Murphy VA Hospital
> Location: San Antonio, Texas
> Number of beds: 268
> Network: VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network
30. Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
> Location: Richmond, Virginia
> Number of beds: 273
> Network: VA Mid – Atlantic Health Care Network
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29. Battle Creek VA Medical Center
> Location: Battle Creek, Michigan
> Number of beds: 276
> Network: VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio Indiana and Michigan
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28. Atlanta VA Medical Center
> Location: Decatur, Georgia
> Number of beds: 285
> Network: VA Southeast Network
27. Dallas VA Medical Center
> Location: Dallas, Texas
> Number of beds: 289
> Network: VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network
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26. Malcom Randall Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
> Location: Gainesville, Florida
> Number of beds: 289
> Network: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
25. Seattle VA Medical Center
> Location: Seattle, Washington
> Number of beds: 291
> Network: VA Northwest Health Network
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24. Tucson VA Medical Center
> Location: Tucson, Arizona
> Number of beds: 295
> Network: VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network
23. San Diego VA Medical Center
> Location: San Diego, California
> Number of beds: 296
> Network: VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network
22. Coatesville VA Medical Center
> Location: Coatesville, Pennsylvania
> Number of beds: 302
> Network: VA Healthcare
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21. Minneapolis VA Medical Center
> Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
> Number of beds: 309
> Network: VA Midwest Health Care Network
20. James J Peters VA Medical Center
> Location: Bronx, New York
> Number of beds: 311
> Network: VA New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network
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19. Alvin C York Veterans Administration Medical Center
> Location: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
> Number of beds: 347
> Network: VA MidSouth Healthcare Network
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18. San Juan VA Medical Center
> Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
> Number of beds: 348
> Network: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
17. Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center
> Location: Houston, Texas
> Number of beds: 350
> Network: VA South Central VA Health Care Network
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16. John J Cochran Veterans Hospital
> Location: St. Louis, Missouri
> Number of beds: 355
> Network: VA Heartland Network
15. Perry Point VA Medical Center
> Location: Perry Point, Maryland
> Number of beds: 357
> Network: VA Capitol Health Care Network
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14. H John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
> Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
> Number of beds: 358
> Network: VA Healthcare
13. Bruce W Carter VA Medical Center
> Location: Miami, Florida
> Number of beds: 372
> Network: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
12. St Albans VA Medical Center
> Location: Queens, New York
> Number of beds: 386
> Network: VA New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network
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11. St Cloud VA Medical Center
> Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
> Number of beds: 388
> Network: VA Midwest Health Care Network
10. James A Haley Veterans Hospital
> Location: Tampa, Florida
> Number of beds: 415
> Network: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
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9. Bath VA Medical Center
> Location: Bath, New York
> Number of beds: 440
> Network: VA New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network
8. Brockton VA Medical Center
> Location: Brockton, Massachusetts
> Number of beds: 448
> Network: VA New England Healthcare System
7. West Roxbury VA Medical Center
> Location: Boston, Massachusetts
> Number of beds: 448
> Network: VA New England Healthcare System
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6. Cincinnati VA Medical Center
> Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
> Number of beds: 463
> Network: VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio Indiana and Michigan
5. Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital
> Location: Hines, Illinois
> Number of beds: 483
> Network: VA Great Lakes Health Care System
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4. West Los Angeles VA Medical Center
> Location: Los Angeles, California
> Number of beds: 500
> Network: VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network
3. Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
> Location: Cleveland, Ohio
> Number of beds: 586
> Network: VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio Indiana and Michigan
2. Southern Oregon VA Rehabilitation Center
> Location: White City, Oregon
> Number of beds: 600
> Network: VA Northwest Health Network
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1. Biloxi VA Medical Center
> Location: Biloxi, Mississippi
> Number of beds: 716
> Network: VA South Central VA Health Care Network
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