VA St. Louis Health Care System

The VA St. Louis Health Care System operates across two campuses in St. Louis, Missouri. The John Cochran division sits near midtown and carries the acute inpatient and surgical load, while the Jefferson Barracks division to the south, on grounds with a long military history and a national cemetery, handles extended care, rehabilitation, and substantial mental health services. Community-based outpatient clinics extend access across eastern Missouri and into southern Illinois. Affiliations with Saint Louis University and Washington University support teaching for residents and health professions students.

Services include inpatient medical and surgical care, intensive care, surgery, primary care, and a range of outpatient specialty clinics, alongside mental and behavioral health programs covering outpatient treatment, PTSD care, substance use treatment, and outreach to veterans experiencing homelessness. Extended care through a community living center and rehabilitation services support an aging veteran population. Nurses practice across critical care, medical-surgical, perioperative, outpatient, mental health, and long-term care settings, with roles differing considerably between the two campuses given how services divide. Nursing positions fall under federal employment, so pay scales and advancement follow VA structures rather than the terms at BJC HealthCare or SSM Health.