Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care

The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System operates from a campus in the downtown New Orleans medical district, adjacent to University Medical Center. Its history sets it apart from most VA facilities: Hurricane Katrina flooded and permanently closed the original hospital on Perdido Street in 2005, and for more than a decade afterward the system delivered care through scattered temporary clinics while a replacement was built. The current hospital opened in the mid-2010s, making it one of the newer facilities in the VA system.

Services include inpatient medical and surgical care, intensive care, surgery, primary care, and outpatient specialty clinics, alongside mental and behavioral health programs covering outpatient treatment, PTSD care, substance use treatment, and outreach to veterans experiencing homelessness. Community-based outpatient clinics extend access across southeast Louisiana, including sites in Baton Rouge, Hammond, and Slidell. Affiliations with LSU and Tulane medical schools support teaching for residents and health professions students. Nurses practice across critical care, medical-surgical, perioperative, outpatient, and mental health settings in facilities built recently enough to reflect current design standards. Nursing positions fall under federal employment, so pay, benefits, and advancement follow VA structures.