Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
As part of the long-standing relationship with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Dr. Mark A. Brown, president and CEO, joined the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) to formally welcome Dr. Wendell Jones to the community as Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 17.
The event convened regional, state, and local health care administrators, clinicians, and VA leaders – including Dr. Kittra Owens, the medical center’s Chief of Staff and a proud Tuskegee University alumna – representing CAVHCS, a consortium of medical centers and community-based outpatients clinics serving veterans in a 43-county area spanning Alabama and Georgia.
“I don’t know of any higher calling than to serve those who have served,” said Dr. Brown, himself a retired U.S. Air Force Major General, about the uniquely tailored medical care veterans need and deserve.
Dr. Brown also celebrated Tuskegee University’s deep relationship with the medical center, which serves more than 49,000 veterans in a 39-county area that covers central Alabama and part of Georgia.
“We have a relationship that's over a century old, one that we respect and one that we value,” said Dr. Brown about the hospital that was established in 1923 to provide long-term care for roughly 300,000 African American veterans in the then-segregated South after World War I. The university donated approximately 300 acres of land for the hospital site while President Robert Moton passionately lobbied the federal government to establish the hospital to provide quality care for veterans.
Later, then President Dr. Frederick Patterson extended Tuskegee’s influence to ensure that the hospital became a place where Black physicians could gain clinical experience treating veterans, including the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, who were returning to the United States from World War II under-served or turned away by hospitals because of Jim Crow.
From the beginning, the hospital has been a product of Tuskegee’s influence - through land, leadership and legacy – to increase education, advocacy and community partnership to overcome systemic barriers and “we’re still doing it today,” noted Dr. Brown explaining the ways Tuskegee’s School of Nursing and Allied Health and Genomics Center continue to increase better medical outcomes for under-served communities in this community and across the nation.
As part of the two-day CAVHCS meeting, participants will gain more understanding about these unique milestones and ongoing advancements during a visit the Tuskegee University campus for an immersive tour.
Tuskegee Mayor Chris Lee was also on hand to celebrate the inextricable ties between the hospital and the Tuskegee community.
“Tuskegee would not be what it is without the contributions of veterans and this VA hospital,” said Lee. “We have a seamless connection. The veterans in our community represent the best that we put forward to the world, and we want to continue to expand the services delivered here.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Jones has held numerous leadership positions within the Department of Veterans Affairs, including Associate Chief of Staff, Acting Chief of Staff, Acting Network Director, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
A Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Jones has also served in leadership roles with the National Medical Association, the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine, and the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. Dr. Jones graduated from Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine. He also earned an executive MBA from the University of Miami.
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