Braxton Taylor
More than 100 mostly homeless veterans were evacuated from temporary shelters on the sprawling grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center to protect them against the bad air and encroaching wildfires that have devastated the city.
“Ultimately, I think it was a necessary move” to escape the possibility of the fires spreading to the West LA VAMC, Jack Clark, 47, a Navy veteran who had been living in one of the “tiny homes” on the West LA campus, said of the evacuations.
“Hats off to all the people involved” in the evacuation, “but it was still a mess. It’s been quite chaotic,” Clark said of the process of moving the veterans to other temporary shelters. “The bottom line now — you’re doing good just to have a cot to sleep on.”
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The Department of Veterans Affairs on Saturday began relocating veterans on the north side of the West LA campus who live in the Care Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (CTRS) program temporary shelters, or “tiny homes.” The evacuations also included elderly nursing home patients in the Community Living Center, and veterans in residential treatment and transitional housing.
The VA and the West LA facility did not give a total on the number evacuated, but the CTRS tiny homes had accommodations for about 140 veterans.
VA services in the region were continuing, including in the main hospital on the West LA grounds, other emergency services and all clinics, including the San Gabriel Valley VA Clinic, which reopened Tuesday after being in a designated evacuation zone.
According to VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes, Community Living Center residents at the West LA campus were moved to other locations within the VA regional network, and the department has established a shelter with Los Angeles County and the American Red Cross at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, home to the Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, for veterans who need to relocate.
“Our hearts go out to all those impacted by the tragic fires. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, or VAGLAHS, leadership team continues to receive updates from local emergency response personnel and have made operational adjustments for the safety of our staff and the veterans in their care,” Hayes said in an emailed statement to Military.com.
Veterans who need disaster-related assistance can call the VAGLAHS resource line at 877-251-7295 for information and support. The VISN 22 Clinical Contact Center also will provide around the clock assistance at 1-800-952-4852, Option 2, to include virtual care and pharmacy assistance.
The wildfires have also impacted how the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development track homeless veterans in Los Angeles, which has an estimated 3,000 unsheltered veterans — the most of any city in the nation.
Last week, HUD allowed the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA, to postpone indefinitely the annual “Point in Time” count of homeless veterans in the city, which is usually conducted in January.
In a release, LAHSA said that “there is no safe way to gather the 8,000 volunteers necessary to conduct the 2025 PIT Count and collect data as accurately as it has done in previous years.”
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