The utilization of veteran affairs healthcare services among both male and female veterans have shown an increase, yet female veterans continue to underutilize these services. Historically, healthcare facility design has often overlooked the influence of the interior environment on patient quality. There is an opportunity to enhance patients’ well-being through evidence-based design principles. By minimizing environmental stressors, such as color, lighting, layout, and imagery, interior healthcare environments can be improved. Though previous studies have explored the health benefits of different interior design attributes, none reported specific needs and preferences of female veterans along with emotions they experienced. Thus, there is a critical need to design veteran clinics that incorporate interior attributes and to study the impact of such design on the mental health and well-being of female veterans. The purpose of this study is to better understand the needs and preferences of male and female veterans to enhance the design of a veteran healthcare waiting room. Although this study focuses on improving the mental health and well-being of female veterans, gathering data from male and female veterans may reveal the different needs, emotions experienced, and design preferences. The study was conducted in three phases: 1) a needs assessment focus group and survey, 2) the development and redesign of an existing veteran healthcare waiting room, and 3) an evaluation of users’ perceptions. Phase one consisted of participants taking a needs assessment survey, including demographic and Likert scale questions as well as an open-ended question. Phase III consisted of participants being immersed in the redesigned veteran healthcare waiting room in virtual reality, followed by a similar survey that was administered in Phase I. Content Analysis was used to analyze qualitative data for Phase I and Phase III. This study found significant differences in perceptions between male and female veterans for both the existing and redesigned veteran healthcare waiting rooms. However, there were no significant difference in feelings and emotions between male and female veterans in both waiting rooms.