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Origins of the Veterans Health Administration Although health and social support for aged or disabled soldiers has existed in the United States since Colonial times, the spectrum of national programs for American veterans was consolidated with the establishment of the Veterans Administration in 1930. Resources for social services expanded rapidly following World War II with the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (better known as the GI Bill of Rights), and a hospital system that specialized in meeting the rehabilitative needs of more than 1 million returning troops who had experienced physical and emotional trauma expanded and evolved. The Veterans Administration was elevated to Cabinet status and became the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, with financial support programs such as pensions administered under the aegis of the Veterans Benefits Administration and health services consolidated in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The Secretary of Veterans Affairs directs the activities of the department, and the Under Secretary for Health serves as the chief executive officer of VHA. Structural and Organizational Transformation Since 1995 Until the mid-1990s, the VA operated largely as a hospital system providing general medical and surgical services, specialized care in mental health and spinal cord