About us

About VA Houston Healthcare System 

The VA Houston Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. 

Health care and services

We provide you with health care services at 12 locations in southeast Texas. Facilities include our Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston and 11 community-based outpatient clinics in Beaumont, Conroe, Galveston, Humble, Katy, Lake Jackson, Lufkin, Richmond, Sugar Land, Texas City, and Tomball. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Houston health services page. 

The VA Houston Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the South Central VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 16 (VISN 16), which includes medical centers and clinics in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, southeast Texas, and northwest Florida.

Learn more about VISN 16

Research and development

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. We offer Veterans the opportunity to participate in and benefit from our work. Our goal is to use research to promote better health and health care for all. We currently have 615 active research projects involving biomedicine, clinical trials, rehabilitation, and health services.

Major research areas include: 

• Gene therapy
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Our research and development program includes four components:

• Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development
• Clinical Science Research and Development
• Rehabilitation Research and Development
• Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D)

Teaching and learning

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. 
 
We offer residency training with 269.7 slots in 40 major medical specialties and subspecialties. We also train physician assistants and nurses and provide associated training in other health professions, including dietetics, social work, and physical therapy. 

We maintain 144 affiliation agreements with institutions in 19 states, including our major affiliate, Baylor College of Medicine. We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Fast facts

• Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center is on a 119-acre campus that features 350 acute care beds.
• We are the primary health care provider for more than 131,000 Veterans.
• Our main medical center and 11 outpatient clinics log more than 2 million outpatient visits per year.  
• Our resources include a 40-bed spinal cord injury center and a community living center with 141 beds.
• To accommodate our growing populations of women Veterans we operate a full-service breast imaging center with the latest 3D technology, image-guided biopsies and same-day biopsies and results. We have also recently hired specialists in Women’s Reproductive Health and are coordinating care for hundreds of pregnant women Veterans.  
• Our top-notch transplant team performs kidney, liver and heart transplants.
• We offer Veterans state of the art technology, world-class health care and more.  

Accreditation and achievements

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

• The Joint Commission
• American Nurses Credentialing Center
• College of American Pathologists
• Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission
• American Psychological Association

The VA Houston Healthcare System received the following awards:

• Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing
• CARF 3-year accreditations for Health Care for Homeless Veterans and Vocational Rehabilitation Programs; Comprehensive Integrated Inpatient Rehabilitation Program; the Visual Impairment Services Outpatient Rehabilitation (VISOR) Program; and Inpatient and Outpatient Amputee System of Care Program.

Public Notice of CCNE Accreditation

The Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston, Texas is undergoing accreditation with the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) that will include hosting a face-to-face site visit on February 15-17, 2023, for the Post-Baccalaureate Registered Nurse Residency Program.

One of the requirements for accreditation specifies that the program notify their community constituents of the opportunity to submit “written third-party comments” to the CCNE. The MEDVAMC extends the invitation for colleagues, program constituents, and interested parties to submit comments concerning the MEDVAMC’s programs and our qualifications for accreditation.

During the review process, the CCNE evaluation team will consider all third-party comments that relate to the CCNE Standards of Accreditation of Entry-to-Practice Nurse Residency Programs.

All third-party comments must be submitted in English. Please note that comments are only shared with the CCNE evaluation team assigned to the review of the Entry-to-Practice Nurse Residency Programs, and at no time during the review process are these comments shared with the program. These third-party comments will be received by CCNE until 21 days before the scheduled site evaluation.

Therefore, all third-party comments regarding the MEDVAMC Entry-to -Practice Nurse Residency Program will be accepted by CCNE until January 25, 2023. Please submit comments to:

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)

Subject: Third-Party Comments

thirdpartycomments@ccneaccreditation.org