South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS)

About Us - South Texas Veterans Health Care System

STVHCS LEADERSHIP

The South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) is comprised of two inpatient campuses: the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio and the Kerrville VA Hospital in Kerrville, Texas.  The STVHCS serves one of the largest primary service areas in the nation and is part of the VA Heart of Texas Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 17), with offices located in Arlington, Texas. With an FY12 budget for STVHCS of $605 million and more than 3,400 employees, South Texas provides health care services for 80,000 unique Veterans.  In FY12, STVHCS provided almost 1,271,843 outpatient visits to area Veterans.

The Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital (ALMMVAH), named after the nation’s most decorated World War II hero, is a quaternary care facility, which is affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA).  Comprehensive health care is provided through acute medical, surgical, mental health, physical medicine and rehabilitation, geriatric, and primary care services.  The ALMMVAH is comprised of a Spinal Cord Injury Center, a Community Living Center, a Domiciliary, and a Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (SARRTP).  ALMMVAH provides quaternary services including bone marrow transplantation, open-heart surgery, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography.  As a Level II Research facility ALMMVAH has more than 600 projects that include aging, cardiac surgery, cancer, and diabetes.  The facility has one of three National Institutes of Health sponsored clinical research centers in the VA. In addition, the Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center (GRECC) is a “Center of Excellence.” STVHCS houses the Veterans Evidence-based Research Dissemination Implementation Center (VERDICT). VERDICT is one of seven Research Enhancement Award Programs funded by the VA’s Health Services Research & Development Service.  VERDICT’s mission is to improve the health of Veterans by researching methods of improving the performance of clinical Microsystems.  This focus recognizes that health care teams must work together, as well as with the patients that they serve, to provide effective, coordinated care. 

The Kerrville VA Hospital (KVAH), located 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, provides primary care, some specialty care, geriatric evaluation and management, palliative care, and long-term care services with a Community Living Center.  The Satellite Clinic Division (SCD) offer primary care and some specialty care while sharing resources with each other and their respective communities.  When required, Veterans are referred to ALMMVAH or KVAH for specialty care including medicine, surgery, neuropsychiatry, rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, and long-term care services.  The satellite clinic division is comprised of VA–staffed and contracted Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).  Staff clinics are located at the following sites in San Antonio:  Frank M. Tejeda, North Central Federal Clinic, South Bexar and Northeast 410. CBOCs are also located in Victoria and contract clinics are located in Beeville, Kingsville, Del Rio, Uvalde, New Braunfels and Seguin. 

The STVHCS supports the VA staffed clinics by providing optometry, general surgery, mental health, orthopedic and podiatry services on-site (offerings vary by site). 

The Frank M. Tejeda Outpatient Clinic (FTOPC) is the clinic of jurisdiction for the Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam program.  More than 400 Veterans are evaluated monthly in the C&P Program. The FTOPC also houses a division office of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) Houston Regional Office.