Our vet centres were stood up after Vietnam. When our Vietnam veterans came home, they weren't really treated correctly, and didn't trust the government. Their own stood up the vet centres. They have the state criteria of eligibility, which is combat veterans, as you say. They do not share that information with VHA. It's all confidential. It's a trusted location.
Mostly the vet centres have been set up for PTSD. There are over 300 of them in the country, and they're exactly as you saw, completely separate from our health care facilities.