History | VA Wilkes-Barre Health Care | Veterans Affairs
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WILKES-BARRE VA MEDICAL CENTER In 1944, the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce asked VA to consider Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, as a site for a new VA medical center. Local business leaders
told VA that the community would raise money to buy land. In 1945, VA authorized plans for a hospital in Wilkes-Barre and chose a site. A coalition of Veterans organizations, community
groups, and individuals started a campaign to raise money. With such strong community support, the campaign raised more than enough money to purchase the site where the Wilkes-Barre VA
Medical Center would be built. In 1946, the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley Veterans Hospital Fund created a board of trustees to manage the excess funds raised by the community. The board
invested the money and earmarked it for entertainment, education, recreation, and supplies. The goal was to promote the morale, physical welfare, and rehabilitation of Veterans served by the
Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center. Over the years, the trustees have enriched the lives of Veterans by providing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of amenities that the medical center
can’t otherwise buy with appropriated funds. Today Wilkes-Barre health care offers services to more than 38,000 Veterans living in a 19-county area of Pennsylvania and New York. Learn more
about the history of VA