About us
At Minneapolis VA Health Care System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families.
About Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Minneapolis VA Health Care 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 15 locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Facilities include our Minneapolis VA Medical Center, our Community Resource and Referral Center for Veterans experiencing homelessness, and 13 VA Community Clinics located in Albert Lea, Ely, Hibbing, Mankato, Maplewood, Ramsey, Rochester, Shakopee, and St. James, Minnesota; and Chippewa Falls, Hayward, Rice Lake and Superior, Wisconsin. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit Minneapolis VA health services page.
Minneapolis VA Health Care System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Midwest VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 (VISN 23), which includes medical centers and clinics in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Research and development
Minneapolis VA Health Care System has maintained an active accredited research program affiliated with the University of Minnesota for over 90 years. Our program includes over 145 scientists and investigators conducting over 250 research projects funded by the VA, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and other agencies. 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.
Minneapolis VA Health Care System is home to four major research centers:
- Brain Sciences Center
- Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research (CCDOR)
- Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)
- Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER)
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.
Learn more about our research program
Teaching and learning
Minneapolis VA Health Care System is an academic health system that provides a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We maintain over 90 active affiliations with health professions schools and have been working closely with the University of Minnesota since 1947.
Every year, our facility trains around 1,500 health professions trainees in over 40 disciplines, including medical students, residents, nursing students and associated health professions. While most trainees rotate for a period of time in our clinical learning environment, we also offer the opportunity to enroll in our VA-based, accredited training programs. Our learners, preceptors and staff are supported through a well-resourced health science library, advanced-tier simulation center and our Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Center. We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA to train the health care workforce for VHA and the nation.
Learn more about our internships and fellowships
Fast facts
- Our Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC) is one of five facilities in the country designed to provide acute, inpatient rehabilitative care to Veterans and active-duty service members who have experienced severe injuries. PRCs serve as regional referral centers for acute medical and rehabilitation care, and as hubs for research and education related to polytrauma and traumatic brain injuries.
- In 2022, 679 volunteers donated 103,605 hours to help care for Veterans.
- In 2022, our research investigators successfully competed for $28.8 million in extramural research funding, producing more than 480 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
- We recorded 988,162 outpatient visits at our facilities in 2022.
- Our staff included 4,787 employees in 2022. Of those, 873 were Veterans.
- Practice Greenhealth recognized Minneapolis VA Medical Center as one of its top 25 hospitals in the country for environmental excellence.
Accreditation
Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:
- The Joint Commission
- Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
- College of American Pathologists
- American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer