About this Facility

Since 1921, the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center (Walla Walla VAMC) has been improving the health of the men and women who have so proudly served our nation. We consider it our privilege to serve your health care needs in any way we can. Services are available to Veterans living in eastern Washington and Oregon and western Idaho.

The Walla Walla VAMC serves veterans from a 15-county area in the tri-state area that includes Southeastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon and Central-western Idaho. In addition to our main medical center in Walla Walla, we offer a primary care services to our patients in community-based outpatient clinics at Richland and Yakima, Washington, La Grande, Oregon, and Lewiston, Idaho. The Walla Walla VA also has a contract VA Clinic in Grangeville, Idaho.

In addition to our main facility the Walla Walla VAMC serves veterans from a 15-county area in the tri-state area that includes Southeastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon and Central-western Idaho. We offer primary care services in five community-based outpatient clinics. These clinics are located in —

La Grande, Oregon
Lewiston, Idaho
Richland, Washington
Yakima, Washington
Grangeville, Idaho (new contracted VA Outpatient Clinic - more to come)

The Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center is located on an 88-acre campus on the site of historic cavalry fort, Fort Walla Walla, established in 1858. The VA Medical Center serves veterans residing in a 42,000-square-mile primary service area within the VISN 20 network. Services include outpatient primary care, outpatient mental health, specialty care, substance abuse residential rehabilitation, HUD/VASH, and CWT programs.

Academic Affiliations

Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla University University of Washington Illinois College of Optometry Washington State University

Pacific University College of Optometry University of Utah Gonzaga University Wenatchee Valley College Lewis-Clark State College

Community Information

Although Walla Walla was for a long time best known as the home of the Walla Walla sweet onion, in recent years the buzz around town has been generated more by red wines than by white onions. New wineries have been popping up as fast as champagne corks on New Year's Eve, making this town the single best destination in the state for a few days of wine touring. The explosion of wineries has also brought on a downtown renaissance, with a restored historic hotel, excellent restaurants, and a few wine bars.

Before there was wine, it was onions that made Walla Walla famous (well, maybe not exactly famous). The Walla Walla onion is a big sweet variety, similar to the Vidalia onion of Georgia, and owes its sweetness not to sugar, but to a high-water and low-sulfur content. These onions, which can weigh as much as 2 pounds, are legendary around the Northwest as the best onions for burgers at summer barbecues. Between June and August, produce stands in the area sell big bags of these sweet onions.

This is also a college town with three schools of higher learning: Walla Walla College, Whitman College, and Walla Walla Community College. Due in large part to these colleges, the town wears a rather cultured air. The town's residential streets, lined with stately old homes and large shade trees, add yet another layer to Walla Walla's character. A stroll or drive through the town's old neighborhoods conjures up times past, when the pace of life was slower.

Walla Walla is one of the oldest communities in the Northwest and was the site of both an early mission and one of the region's first forts. Before white settlers arrived, the area was home to several Indian tribes from which the town's name, which means "many waters" or "small, rapid streams," is derived.