The Wilmington VA Medical Center plays a central role in the region’s health care system and veteran community. More than 1,300 employees provide care to over 47,000 veterans each year.
Thandiwe Nelson-Brooks brings more than two decades of health care leadership experience to a facility serving more than 47,000 veterans across Delaware and South Jersey.
WILMINGTON, Del. — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed Thandiwe Nelson-Brooks as the new executive director of the Wilmington VA Medical Center, effective March 8, according to an announcement from Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 4.
Nelson-Brooks had been serving in the role on an interim basis since January. She succeeds Vamsee Potluri, who transferred to another VA facility within the network in September 2025.
VISN-4 Interim Director Jennifer Harkins said Nelson-Brooks brings strong leadership experience to the position.
“We are very excited to appoint Ms. Nelson-Brooks to this role permanently,” Harkins said in a statement. “I am grateful for her experience and leadership that she brings to Wilmington.”
Nelson-Brooks previously served as interim director of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu after being appointed deputy medical center director there in December 2023. She brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical and administrative health care leadership.
She began her VA career in 2010 as a clinical nurse consultant and Health Promotion Disease Prevention program manager at the VA New Jersey Health Care System in East Orange, New Jersey.
“Our veterans are the ‘why’ behind everything we do,” Nelson-Brooks said. “There is no greater professional honor than dedicating this next chapter to serving those who have served our nation. As I step into this new role, I welcome opportunities to connect with our veterans and their caregivers, hear their stories, and better understand how we can continue improving the care and services they deserve.”
The Wilmington VA Medical Center plays a central role in the region’s health care system and veteran community. More than 1,300 employees provide care to over 47,000 veterans each year at the Wilmington hospital and its five outpatient clinics located throughout Delaware and southern New Jersey.
Beyond being a medical facility, the Wilmington VA serves as a critical anchor for veterans’ health services across the region. The center provides specialized care tailored to military service, including treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, service-related hearing and vision loss, and exposure-related conditions such as those linked to Agent Orange and burn pits.
The hospital is also an important resource for Delaware’s aging veteran population, offering primary care, memory and dementia support, home-based care programs, and social services for caregivers. Many older veterans rely on the VA as their primary source of consistent medical care.
The medical center also plays a key role in supporting mental health services across the region, offering PTSD treatment programs, substance-use disorder services, suicide-prevention resources, and peer support networks.
In addition to its health care mission, the Wilmington VA serves as a major employer and economic driver in the city. The facility supports hundreds of medical professionals and staff while bringing federal health care funding into the region and partnering with local universities to train future doctors and nurses.
By providing care for tens of thousands of veterans annually, the Wilmington VA also helps reduce strain on local hospital systems by handling complex chronic conditions and specialty care unique to military service.
With deep military roots across Wilmington and New Castle County, the VA medical center remains one of the region’s most trusted institutions for veterans and their families.
Nelson-Brooks said strengthening those connections with veterans and caregivers will be a priority as she begins her tenure leading the Wilmington facility.
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