The Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS) has cared for America's veterans in Phoenix for more than half a century. It's an honor we extend to our veterans, that would never have been possible without the help of former United States Senator Carl Trumbull Hayden.

In 1947, Senator Carl T. Hayden arranged a meeting between President Harry Truman and a delegation of 27 Maricopa County residents. The delegation brought with them a petition signed by 100,000 voters requesting to build a VA hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The delegation was very persuasive and on May 21, 1947, President Truman authorized the transfer of 27 acres of the Indian School reservation at Seventh Street and Indian School Road to VA as a site for a new hospital.  

The medical center first opened its doors in 1951 and served 1,000 outpatients per month.

In order to recognize Carl Hayden's assistance in this endeavor, and to honor his legislative and military service to Arizona, the medical center was renamed the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center (CTHVAMC) on Veterans Day, November 11, 1987.

Since that time, the veteran population has continued to expand and so have the services of the Phoenix VA Health Care System. We treat more than 60,000 patients to comprehensive health care benefits, using a managed care model of health care delivery.