Veterans helping veterans: SMART members help build new VA Medical Center in Kentucky

In Kentucky, SMART Local 110 members and military veterans are working on a project that means something extra: a massive new Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center that will provide health care for those who served.

“This project right here was very personal to me,” said Andrew Judd, Local 110 member and foreman on the project. “I don’t have the [money] to just give millions and millions to veterans all the time, so I can [give back] the best way that I know how … and that is to make sure that me and my fellow veterans, we all have a nice hospital here.”

The new facility, located in east Louisville, is about 80% complete, according to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Construction on the $970 million project is expected to conclude by the end of 2026, with the medical center open and serving veterans by 2027.

For David Hale, a Local 110 member, superintendent and Army veteran who served for four years — “I was in Gulf Storm … 11 Bravo Infantry,” he explained — the Louisville facility is the second VA project he’s worked on.

“I actually worked on the Lexington VA for two years, about 10 years ago,” Hale said. “Neither facility we have [in Kentucky] is up to snuff, in my opinion, so I think this is going to be great for all the veterans.”

Judd agreed, noting that the ability to be on-site during construction helps him try to ensure the facility is well-suited to meet veterans’ needs.

“Being on the front line, watching it go up, I can see things that I wouldn’t particularly like … and try and get something that I wouldn’t be happy about, and I know other veterans wouldn’t be happy about, trying to get it changed ahead of time,” he explained.

Veteran apprentices learn on the job

Sheet metal veterans aren’t just helping build the new VA Medical Center. For military veterans who are newer to the trade, this project is literally helping veterans transition from the service to civilian life.

Local 110 apprentice James Thomas Gray served with the 223rd Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard, for six years.

“As a civilian and a veteran, I didn’t know how to get into the trade,” he said. “I didn’t know who to talk to, where to go. I didn’t know there were union halls, things like that, so I just joined a random nonunion company.”

He started working on an elementary school job alongside a predominantly unionized workforce. He heard constantly about the opportunities: the pension, the insurance and everything else that defines SMART membership. Very shortly after, he joined Local 110.

Now, Gray has been helping build the new VA Medical Center, which promises to serve veterans such as himself — and his twin brother. Like the other SMART veterans on the job, he said the work he’s been doing for more than a year carries extra importance.

“It means a lot to me, because I have friends and family that are more than likely going to be going there one day,” Gray said. “So I like knowing that they’re going to have a place to go that’s big enough to serve everybody.”