VA San Diego Healthcare System

Thank you for your service and contributions to our nation!

Greetings on behalf of the VA San Diego Healthcare System team!

While we will not be seeing you in person during the Veterans Day Parade or other community events this year, we want you to know we are thinking of YOU and wishing YOU a Happy Veterans Day.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring, we are making every effort to make sure we are providing safe health care, as well as keeping you and our staff safe.  During the pandemic, we immediately activated our Hospital Incident Command System, established COVID-19 testing, maintained a sufficient amount of personal protective equipment (PPE), and expanded our COVID-19 bed capacity for a potential surge. We also moved many elements of our medical care system to virtual settings so that we could continue to serve you in a safe environment.

In addition, as part of the VA’s Fourth Mission to provide medical support in the time of national emergencies, we sent clinical staff to nursing homes and healthcare facilities in the southwest to support civilian facilities overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases.  We are currently preparing to set up COVID-19 vaccination programs for Veterans and will provide more information when we have the vaccine and are ready to start administration.

I want to assure you that we are open to provide services both in person and via telehealth, and are opening up additional services in a safe manner as quickly as possible. We continue to focus on providing the highest quality health care and services every day.

At VA San Diego, every day is Veterans Day. We are dedicated to Putting Veterans First.

Thank you for your service and contributions to our nation!

Stay safe and stay masked.

Robert M. Smith, MD
Director