A Brief History of VA San Diego Healthcare System
At 400,000 square feet, it was one of the largest facilities in the San Diego area at the time and one of the most architecturally advanced in the world.
Built using a design that made it resistant to earthquakes, the San Diego VA Medical Center in La Jolla first opened to patients in March 1972. Fifty years later, the main facility in La Jolla has become a health care system that includes outpatient clinics in seven locations in San Diego and Imperial County.
The story of Veteran care in San Diego begins long before the ’70s. The first VA health care available for San Diego and Imperial Valley Veterans was offered at the San Diego VA Outpatient Clinic starting in 1946. The clinic was initially located at B street and later moved to 2131 Third Avenue in downtown San Diego. This clinic was under the management of the Los Angeles Veterans Administration, but clinic management transferred to the San Diego VA Medical Center when it opened in March 1972. The clinic eventually moved to Mission Valley in 1975. Before the medical center opened in La Jolla, Veterans needing inpatient hospital care went to the Long Beach VA Medical Center or received care at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.
A campaign to build a VA hospital in San Diego started in the early 1940s and again in 1946 and 1948. Still, budget cuts, administrative delays and controversy over the site (Linda Vista was originally selected) kept delaying the project. Original plans were to open the medical center in 1969. Again, however, construction was delayed.
Ground finally broke on Memorial Day 1969 for the planned $35.5 million, 811-bed medical center adjacent to UCSD. The site was formerly Camp Calvin B Matthews Marine Corps Range, once used as a range for rifles during World War I and as a training location for Marines, Army and Navy during World War 2. It had since been transferred to UCSD in 1959, with the base officially closing in 1964.
The design of the San Diego VA Medical Center allowed for a maximum amount of flexibility in case of earthquakes. At seven stories high, it would equal the size of the largest downtown skyscraper in terms of square feet of floor space. Plans said that both the outside and inside walls would be moveable so the building could expand to 640,000 square feet. A monorail conveyor unit design system featured automated, self-propelled carriers, each with its own computer memory system. The building was also designed with a seven-foot interstitial service floor to conduct installations and repairs for air conditioning, heating, electrical wiring, and plumbing without disturbing patients.
The first flag was raised over San Diego on August 30, 1971, and was officially accepted by the Veterans Administration on December 17, 1971.
It was predicted that yearly visits would increase from 40,000 to 78,000 as patients had more medical options available from the outpatient clinic in the area before.
The medical center was completed in December 1971. The first patients arrived by February 9, resulting from transfers from Los Angeles following a 6.6 earthquake that occurred a year earlier in Sylmar, Calif. The quake had destroyed the Veterans Administration Hospital in the area, and Congress wanted the Veterans Administration to take every measure to prevent such actions in the future.
The San Diego VA Medical Center would be the standard for seismic resistance moving forward.
The grand opening for the medical center was held on March 15, 1972, to a crowd of 2,500 guests, including 49 members of Congress, 78 VA officials, 142 state and county representatives, 76 local officials, 75 military attendees, four federal employees, and 812 people from various service organizations.
At the time of the hospital opening, it was described as a completely modern, comprehensive medical, surgical and psychiatric facility offering special services in general surgery, thoracic surgery, ophthalmology, neurology, orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, hematology, infectious diseases, pulmonary disease, nephrology, including hemodialysis, endocrinology, dermatology, radiology, nuclear medicine, psychology and psychiatry. Inpatient rooms were limited to four beds per room.
By October 1972, the medical and surgical intensive care units opened, and a year after the grand opening, approximately 10,000 patients had been admitted, and the daily occupancy was 445. There were 2,500 employees with an annual payroll of $17 million. In addition, there were volunteers for newly widowed and a nursery to care for children among the early volunteer programs while their parents visited patients.
Over the years, the health care system expanded its facilities and capabilities as its patient load increased. In 1975, the first San Diego outpatient clinic existed before the medical center moved to a new location in Mission Valley. The Spinal Cord Injury annex opened at the medical center on October 15, 1986. VA San Diego Healthcare System also opened outpatient clinics in El Centro in April 1996, in Chula Vista in July 1999, in Vista on the same month with moving to a new location in Aug. 2000, in Escondido in Jan. 2001, in Oceanside in July 2010, in Sorrento Valley in Aug. 2014. The Vista Clinic is no more, with patients being currently absorbed by other clinics in the area.
In 2020, the Chula Vista VA Outpatient Clinic moved locations to a new facility nearby the old location. Then, in Nov. 2021, the 100,000 square foot Kearny Mesa VA Outpatient Clinic opened to replace health services in Mission Valley.
In addition to outpatient clinics, VA San Diego Healthcare System has opened several other clinics over the years. The Wellness and Vocational Enrichment (WAVE) clinic opened in 1998. In addition, the ASPIRE Center, a rehabilitation center for Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, opened in Feb. 2014. VA San Diego Healthcare System also includes three Vet centers in San Diego, San Marcos and Chula Vista.
VA San Diego Healthcare System continues to be at the forefront of Veteran Care with renovations, adoption of cutting-edge technology and additions planned such as a new Spinal Cord Injury and Community Living Center unit currently under construction at the San Diego VA Medical Center. Completion is scheduled for 2024.
If there is one thing that has been consistent throughout its history, VA San Diego has always been able to anticipate and evolve to meet Veteran needs from its beginnings, now and in the future.