Bredesen Protocol Alzheimers Treatment in Altoona, PA

Prepare for your visit

Select a topic to learn more.

All parking in the main lot is designated as Handicap parking.

A parking garage is located in the main parking lot, facing the front entrance of the Medical Center. Patients and visitors can park in the second floor parking lot which is off Fairway Drive.

Altoona VA Medical Center has wheelchairs available upon arrival for patients who need them to access the building.

Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., individual van schedules vary.

We work with Disabled American Veterans and county Veterans Affairs directors to provide transportation for Veterans and authorized caregivers to get to scheduled medical appointments.

Many localities in the region provide other van services to Veterans.

The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center is located on the AMTRAN bus route.

Med-Van:

Blair Senior Services:

Beneficiary travel benefits include round-trip transportation from your home to the medical center, mileage reimbursement, or special mode transport.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

No set hours for most departments, please visit when it's most convenient for you and the patient. Exceptions are listed below in Visitor Policies.

Visiting hours are individualized to meet the needs of the patient, family, and caregivers.

Generally, visitors are not permitted. The doctor or nurse may make an exception.

Visitors may not bring food or beverages to patients without authorization from unit physicians or nurses.

Children under age 15 may visit inpatients when permission has been granted by the unit physician or nurse. When approved by the physician or nurse, inpatients may visit with younger children in the waiting room in the main lobby. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Children of all ages are permitted to visit with residents of the Community Living Center.

Members of the clergy are welcome to visit patients who are members of their particular religious group at any time at the discretion of the unit physician or nurse.

For the health and well-being of a patient, the attending physician may limit, restrict, or deny visitation. We apologize for any inconvenience when this occurs, and appreciate your understanding that it may be medically necessary.

Visitors are not permitted to stay overnight in the medical center itself. Here are some other options.

When booking, ask for the hospital rate. Many hotels have shuttle service to VA hospitals. Check with the hotel you’re staying at.

NOTE: These links are provided for your convenience only. VA Altoona Healthcare System does not endorse and is not responsible for the content on the linked web sites.

These sites provide some up-to-date listings for area hotels, as well as activities, transportation, restaurants, shops and more.

Second floor Room 2C08 Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET

When you’re admitted, you can request or decline visits by a VA chaplain. Our chaplains provide spiritual, pastoral, and emotional care for you and your family, in accordance with your own beliefs and practices. This includes locating clergy or religious leaders in the community for needs that our chaplain staff cannot meet.

The chapel is open to anyone 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for quiet meditation and reflection. The chapel also hosts regularly scheduled services for many denominations.

Get updates from VA Altoona health care

About 80 UPMC Altoona nurses rallied in a grassy area along Howard Avenue across from the hospital Wednesday evening to call attention to what they say is underinvestment and understaffing that violates promises made by UPMC when it took over the hospital in 2013.

Some of the nurses lined up side-by-side held pumpkins individually carved with letters spelling out “No more tricks UPMC” while a line of pumpkins at their feet spelled “Invest in our community.”

The rally was held in the context of negotiations between the hospital and the nurses’ union, SEIU Healthcare-PA, for renewal of a contract that expires at the end of the year.

There are now more than 300 fewer nurses than the 840 who worked at the hospital in 2013, reflecting the understaffing that has led to stress, overwork and burnout that compromises patient care and forces inexperienced nurses into situations they’re not ready for, leading to more stress, overwork and burnout, the nurses said.

The hospital didn’t respond to repeated invitations to comment on the rally.

Given that the hospital earned $364 million on operations during 2024 before interest, depreciation and amortization (although that only represents 1.2% of revenue), and given that CEO Leslie Davis earns $11 million a year — and given other trappings of corporate wealth — the hospital has the resources to fix the understaffing problem, according to speakers at the rally.

One of the key issues is alleged non-competitive RN pay.

The high caseloads and long shifts that sometimes result from the understaffing “wreak havoc on bodies, minds and family lives,” said nurse Paula Cain.

It also leads to “moral injury,” because nurses can’t give the kind of care they should, according to union local President Jaime Balsamo.

That moral injury can come from being “torn” between responsibilities to different patients, according to Elyssa Sitar, who recently transferred out of intensive care.

Once for her, such conflict occurred because of care needed by one patient who was dying and one who was unable to move, she said.

It causes distress, yet nurses are expected to be resilient — to “behave as if nothing has happened,” Sitar said.

Thirteen-year nurse Leann Oppel was one of 65 RNs in the Surgical/Progressive Care unit, she said. None of those are left. Problems that drove them away included nurses who were just a few months into their careers being assigned to be in charge, or to train other new nurses or to care for critically ill patients, she said.

“Stop the vicious cycle,” she said. “Bringing in new nurses, chewing them up and throwing them away.”

Representatives of other unions expressed support, including Bob Kutz, president of the Blair-Bedford Central Labor Council; Bob Miller, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists and Patrick Miller, president of the city’s International Association of Fire Fighters local.

“This is bull—-,” said Bob Miller, whose wife worked at the hospital for 30 years, of the situation.

A relative who came to the hospital gravely ill had to wait for hours in the Emergency Department for lack of beds on the floors, Bob Miller said.

Two floors of the hospital are currently closed, said Patrick Miller.

The responsibility for such issues that cause problems with care “falls squarely on UPMC,” Bob Miller said. “Corporate greed.”

“Stay loud, stay united, stay union,” Patrick Miller told the nurses.