About

The Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA provides services in such areas as: Geriatrics, with specialty care in Alzheimer's Disease, Mental Health, including homelessness, substance abuse and Compensated Work Therapy and Ambulatory Care. The hospital was founded in 1928 chartered by Congress to proivde a variety of health services to Veterans. The hospital currently offers six service lines including: Ambulatory Care, Mental Health, Geriatrics & Extended Care, Geriatrics Research Education & Clinical Center (GRECC), Clinical Support, and Administrative Support. The Hospital also offers Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC's) in Lynn, Haverhill, and Gloucester.

History

Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

VHA evolved from the first federal soldiers’ facility established for Civil War Veterans of the Union Army. On March 3, 1865—a month before the Civil War ended and the day before his second inauguration—President Abraham Lincoln signed a law to establish a national soldiers and sailors asylum. Renamed as the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1873, it was the first-ever government institution created specifically for honorably discharged volunteer soldiers. The first national home opened November 1, 1866, near Augusta, Maine. The national homes were often called “soldiers’ homes” or “military homes,” and only soldiers who fought for the Union Army—including U.S. Colored Troops—were eligible for admittance. These sprawling campuses became the template for succeeding generations of federal Veterans’ hospitals.

By 1929, the federal system of national homes had grown to 11