About us
At the VA Boston Healthcare System, we’re committed to improving the lives of Veterans and their families every day.
The VA Boston Healthcare System provides you with exceptional health care, trains America’s future healthcare providers, and conducts important medical research.
Health care and services
We provide you with health care services at eight locations, serving Suffolk, Norfolk, Middlesex and Plymouth counties. Facilities include our Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center campus in Boston, the Brockton VA Medical Center campus, and West Roxbury VA Medical Center campus. We also have five community outpatient clinics in Boston, Framingham, Lowell, Plymouth and Quincy. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Boston health services page.
Together, VA Boston facilities provide exceptional and accessible care for more than 60,000 Veterans from the greater Boston area and across New England.
VA Boston HCS is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA New England Healthcare System, also known as VISN 1, which includes medical centers and clinics in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Research and development
VA Boston HCS hosts one of the largest and most active research programs in VA, and 10 national centers of excellence, including the Million Veteran Program, the VA Biorepository Brain Bank, and two divisions of the National Center for PTSD: the Behavioral Science Division and Women’s Health Sciences Division. We conduct research to discover knowledge, develop VA scientists and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for Veterans and the nation.
Learn more about our research programs.
Teaching and learning
VA Boston Healthcare System maintains general medicine and teaching hospitals that provide a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We offer fellowships and internships in psychology, an Interprofessional Advanced Addiction Fellowship, and a Behavioral Informatics Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
We partner with more than 100 academic affiliates, including Harvard Medical School, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston College Connell School of Nursing, Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Tufts University’s Department of Occupational Therapy, and the New England College of Optometry. In all, VA Boston trains more than 2,000 future health professionals annually.
We also maintain affiliations with the following medical centers:
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Boston Medical Center
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Tufts Medical Center
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.
Learn more about educational opportunities with VA Boston.
Fast facts
- Patients served: 65,506 (Fiscal Year 2025)
- Unduplicated encounters: 979,227 (Fiscal Year 2025)
- Facility size: 477 beds
- According to patient surveys, more than 95% of Veterans said they trust VA Boston with their health care as of February 2026.
- VA Boston Community Living Center (CLC) maintained an overall 5-star rating for first quarter, Fiscal Year 2026, in CLC Compare.
- Five VA Boston Healthcare System providers were recognized in Boston Magazine's Top Doctors 2025, an annual list of the area’s top doctors based on nominations by their peers.
- VA Boston was 1 of 7 VAs recognized in the 2025 Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program. We were the only VA silver recipient, and 1 of 22 recipients in total. There are only two other silver recognitions in Massachusetts.
- VA Boston housed 357 Veterans experiencing homelessness in the greater Boston area in Fiscal Year 2025. 96% of these Veterans have not returned to homelessness, and 271 unsheltered Veterans in the area were engaged to ensure they have access to the housing and other wraparound services they need.
- Achieved redesignation as an American Nurses Credentialing Center Pathway to Excellence organization, demonstrating our commitment to creating a positive practice environment that empowers and engages staff. VA Boston is one of 13 VA healthcare systems nationwide to achieve Pathway designation.
- VA Boston Healthcare System is the fifth largest VA in terms of healthcare profession trainees, with over 2,400 trainees rotating annually. It is affiliated with more than 100 training programs, including those at Harvard Medical School, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and the New England College of Optometry.
- VA Boston Healthcare System is host to the largest research program in the Veterans Health Administration by dollar value. We are also home to 10 national centers of excellence, including the Million Veteran Program, the VA Biorepository Brain Bank, and two divisions of the National Center for PTSD.
Accreditations
Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:
- Joint Commission
- Long-Term Care Institute
- Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
- American Association of Blood Banks
- American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics
- American College of Radiology
- Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories
- National Commission for Quality Assurance
- Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care