Brief Description

The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center (TVAMC) is located in west Alabama, where the facility is situated on a beautiful campus of 125 acres with 25 major buildings. Services at TVAMC include: Primary Care Services, Women’s Health and Mammography, Geriatrics and Extended Care Services, Home Based Primary Care, Inpatient Mental Health Services, and Outpatient Mental Health Services, which includes programs for Substance Use Disorders, Dual Diagnosis, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, Dementia Care, Partial Hospitalization, Community Residential Care, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, VocationalRehabilitation, and Health Care for Homeless Veterans. The TVAMC provides access to secondary and tertiary care services, which include referrals to the Birmingham VAMC. The TVAMC operates one satellite outpatient Clinic in Selma, AL and has a Mobile Clinic that serves three highly rural towns. The current unique patient population for TVAMC is approximately 16,500.

The TVAMC houses an outstanding Research Department. Research projects at TVAMC include or have included the neurobiology and pharmacological treatment of depression, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Tardive Dyskinesia, pain management, as well as pain assessment, alternative therapies (i.e. meditation, acupuncture, etc.), culture change evaluations, vocational rehabilitation outcomes, and smoking cessation.

The Research Department has 4 Principle Investigators (PI), another 4 PIs on staff with the Medical Center, and multiple Co-Investigators and Research Coordinators on staff. Each staff member has an office that includes desktop computer with Microsoft Office software programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and internet access, phone, printer, access to scanner, copier and fax. The research team has a shared drive on the TVAMC server for file sharing and storage that can be accessed by members of the research team. All medical records at the TVAMC are 100% electronic (Computerized Patient Record System - CPRS) and research staff have access to CPRS. Research staff also have convenient access to a physical exam and phlebotomy room. A pharmacy and lab are also on site.