Fort Harrison VA Medical Center Begins Upgrades to Modernize Patient Care

The Fort Harrison VA Medical Center announced it has begun infrastructure upgrades to ensure safe and effective patient care, the VA said in a Feb. 26, 2026 release about work at its 3687 Veterans Drive campus in Fort Harrison, Lewis and Clark County. The announcement frames the work as a package of projects meant to improve patient safety, staff workflows and readiness for electronic health records.

Planning documents prepared for the project lay out major construction and renovation elements. The proposal includes a three-story bed-tower addition of approximately 82,600 building gross square feet on the south side of Building 154, seismic retrofitting of Buildings 141, 150, 154, 154A and the connecting corridor, and interior remodeling of roughly 221,800 BGSF across those buildings to meet current and projected VAMC operational needs.

The campus plan also identifies a new two-story central utility plant of about 15,700 BGSF north of Building 154 and an approximately four-story parking garage with 660 spaces north of Building 154. Site work described in the Environmental Assessment calls for installation, relocation or upgrade of campus utilities and roads, plus concrete curb and gutter installation in the northern portion of the campus to provide parking during construction.

Federal environmental and permitting steps are already part of the process. VA prepared an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act and VA’s NEPA Interim Guidance for Projects to identify potential physical, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts at Fort Harrison. The project documents state VA is in the pre-design phase for certain projects, that planning for seismic upgrades began in 2015, and that the agency will obtain all applicable federal, state and local permits prior to construction.

NBC Montana reported the work is part of a broader Department of Veterans Affairs effort to realign funds to facilities maintenance; that coverage states both that “the Department of Veteran Affairs is realigning an additional $800 million to the Veterans Health Administrations Non-Recurring Maintenance program” and that “the additional funding is coming from different VHA reform efforts, this is a nearly $500 million increase from the fiscal year of 2024.” NBC Montana attributed a statement to VA Secretary Doug Collins: “This is another step forward in our efforts to make VA work better for the Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors we are charged with serving. Improved facilities, equipment and infrastructure help improve care for Veterans, and these additional funds will enable VA to achieve that goal.”

The Montana VA Public Affairs Office can provide local details and clarifications; residents and veterans can call 406-447-7303 for information about timelines, parking changes or service impacts at Fort Harrison. The VA news page also lists other recent Montana VA activities, including National Salute to Veteran Patients (Feb. 9-15), a Kalispell clinic grand opening (Jan. 21, 2026), and the VA’s note that it permanently housed 51,936 homeless Veterans nationwide in fiscal year 2025, situating the Fort Harrison work within wider system initiatives.