It would be just about impossibe to do that. There are very tight laws regarding the hospital from giving any info to you regarding a patient.

I work for the VA Hospital in Battle Creek. Because of the laws, I agree that it would be next to impossible to find out if your friend is in a specific hospital by calling them. You could narrow it down though. Not all VA Hospitals treat psychiatric illnesses. Chances are he is in the nearest VA psych hospital to his hometown. Go to this link http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp and pull up the hospitals in your state. Click on each location and find out which one(s) specialize in Mental Health. If you can’t find one in your state, check surrounding states. Once you narrow down the selection, you may have to actually go to each one during visiting hours and try and visit your friend.

you have to be related to them in most cases but if they are actually in the hospital you can call all the locations there and talk to the operator and eventually you get the right one and transfered to the room

call every VA hospital and ask if that person can have visitors.

When you find one that doesn’t say “Sorry, he’s not here” you found the right one.