Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)

About Us

GRECC Centers of Excellence

The Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) are Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) centers of excellence focused on aging. They were established by Congress in 1975 in order to improve the health and health care of older Veterans. They have three main missions:

1. To build new knowledge in geriatric care through research
2. To improve health care for older Veterans by developing innovative clinical models of care
3. To provide training and education on best practices in caring for older adults for students in healthcare disciplines and VA staff

All GRECCs are connected with a major research university and are located at 20 medical centers across the country.

GRECC Values, Vision, and Mission

Values: Discovery, education, and clinical innovation are foundational to VHA achieving and sustaining excellence in Veteran-centered health care delivery and health outcomes for older and frail Veterans.

Vision: GRECCs propel VHA toward continuous advancement and application of evidence-based patient-centered preventive, therapeutic and restorative care to achieve best possible health outcomes, including optimal function and quality of life, for older Veterans and all older Americans.

Mission: GRECCs are interdisciplinary Centers of Excellence for discovery and innovation that:

• Conduct geriatrics and gerontological research
• Educate and develop current and future geriatrics and gerontology investigators, educators, clinicians and leaders
• Develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate models of clinical services that improve care and health outcomes for older Veterans

GRECC Leadership

Marianne Shaughnessy, PhD, CRNP
Director, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers (GRECC)
VA Office of Geriatrics & Extended Care

Dr. Shaughnessy has served in leadership positions since joining the VA in 2003 as the Associate Director of Education and Evaluation in the Baltimore GRECC. She joined VA Central Office in 2013 and assumed various positions, most recent the National Director of GRECC programs. In this role she is responsible for oversight of the 20 Geriatric Centers of Excellence throughout the U.S., including management of the Geriatrics and Gerontology Federal Advisory Committee. In her prior academic career, she was faculty at the Schools of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Dr. Shaughnessy has also served on journal editorial boards, in leadership roles for professional associations and credentialing centers, and has more than 40 published peer-reviewed journal articles.

GRECC Annual Report

GRECC Partners

return to top