The Department of Veterans Affairs will spend $4.8 billion in the 2026 fiscal year to modernize, repair and upgrade health care facilities across the country, the largest single-year infrastructure investment in the agency’s history, according to an announcement earlier in the year.
The funding flows through the Veterans Health Administration’s Non-Recurring Maintenance program, which covers one-time maintenance and modernization projects that fall outside routine upkeep. In practical terms, that means the aging systems, outdated infrastructure and facilities that have been deferred for years are now in line for meaningful work.
“Improved facilities, equipment and infrastructure mean better care for veterans, and these funds will enable VA to achieve that goal,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a January 2026 news release.
Where the Money Goes
The $4.8 billion is broken into four investment areas, each targeting a specific layer of the VA health care infrastructure:
- $2.8 billion. Repair and upgrade of outdated infrastructure systems across VA medical facilities nationwide: mechanical systems, plumbing, utilities and structural and safety improvements that directly affect how care is delivered.
- $1 billion. Maintenance and modernization of electronic health record systems, including facility preparation for Electronic Health Record Modernization program updates as the VA resumes deployments to new sites in fiscal 2026.
- $500 million. Major building upgrades including elevators, electrical systems and boiler plants: systems that affect patient and staff safety daily.
- $500 million. Medical center modernization to align facilities with current and future care delivery needs.
Project decisions under the program are made quarterly rather than all at once. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026 alone, VA approved $468 million in specific projects, meaning construction and upgrades are already under way at facilities across the country.
What It Means for Electronic Health Records
A significant share of the investment is directed at VA’s long-running Electronic Health Record Modernization program, which aims to give veterans a seamless transition from Department of Defense care to VA care using a single integrated record system. The Biden administration paused the rollout in 2023 amid concerns about implementation. The current administration resumed deployments earlier this year, beginning in April 2026 with four Michigan facilities: Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw.
The $1 billion in EHR-related infrastructure funding covers data center upgrades, next-generation Wi-Fi installation, training and administrative space, and facility preparation to support future deployments at 13 additional sites planned for fiscal 2026.
What This Means for Veterans Using VA Health Care
For the nine million veterans enrolled in VA health care, the investment addresses problems that have accumulated over decades. VA operates one of the largest health care systems in the United States, with more than 1,200 facilities including medical centers, community-based outpatient clinics, and specialty care sites. Many of those facilities were built during or shortly after World War II, and deferred maintenance has been a persistent challenge for the system.
The quarterly project approval structure means veterans at specific facilities may begin to see visible improvements within the current fiscal year. The VA has indicated that the full list of first-quarter projects is publicly available through the VA News press room.
Veterans with questions about their local VA medical center’s planned improvements can contact their facility’s patient advocate office or check VA.gov for facility-specific updates.
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