Health services

Emergency Care is available at: 

• Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

Care we provide at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest VA or non-VA emergency room. We provide immediate treatment for serious, life-threatening health emergencies such as severe chest pain, seizures, heavy uncontrollable bleeding or moderate to severe burns, substance abuse or mental health crises.

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center emergency department is open 24/7 including holidays.
Our emergency room staff can help you with:

•  Life-threatening illnesses and injuries that require immediate attention
• Urgent medical issues that must be treated right away
• Psychiatric evaluations

Service Hours

• Mon. 24/7
• Tue. 24/7
• Wed. 24/7
• Thu. 24/7
• Fri. 24/7
• Sat. 24/7
• Sun. 24/7

Our pharmacy provides you and other Veterans with convenient, efficient service to make it easy to get your medications and medical supplies. You can:

• Pick up new prescriptions in person
• Refill prescriptions online and by phone or mail
• Safely dispose of medicines

Learn more about our pharmacy

Your VA primary care provider will work closely with you to plan for all the care you need to stay healthy and well throughout your life, including immunizations and vaccinations. They will also work with family members or caregivers who support you.

A strong network of family and internal medicine specialists and services can offer you the best possible care. Internal medicine doctors (internists) prevent, diagnose, and treat adult diseases. Doctors who specialize in family medicine provide primary health care to the entire family. Your primary care team can coordinate the many services you receive such as:

• Labs and blood work
• Mental health care
• Women's health care
• Radiology
• Social services
• Telehealth

We offer women’s health services to meet your specific needs such as disease screenings, mental health treatment, recovery from military sexual trauma, maternity care and female-specific medical equipment.

Our women's health program offers complete health care for women Veterans of all ages. Our primary care providers specialize in women's health. They work closely with specialists in gynecology, obstetrics, female urology, oncology, medicine, radiology, surgery, and breast illness. Our services for women Veterans include:

• Ultrasounds, mammograms, Pap and HPV tests
• Mental health care and counseling
• Lifestyle wellness services
• Menopause treatment, including hormonal therapy
• Family planning, contraceptive care, and infertility evaluations

Learn more and connect with a Women Veterans Program Manager

We help Veterans on their recovery journey through outpatient and inpatient services. Our residential facility helps Veterans deal with substance abuse, gambling addiction, homelessness, mental health, and unemployment through its 24-hour therapeutic and educational programs. Service available include:

• Peer Support
• Group and individual counseling
• Health maintenance
• Community support

Learn more about our VA treatment programs

Our medical center and outpatient clinics provide consultation, evaluation, and treatment for a range of issues that may impact your mental health or emotional well-being. Our confidential outpatient services include individual and group therapy for:

• Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression
• Marriage and relationship problems
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Anxiety, addictive behaviors, and personality disorders
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors
• Whole health and wellness services

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

If you have symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event, we can help. We offer assessment and treatment support such as private counseling, group therapy and medication. It’s never too late to get help.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It's normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. We can help you with effective treatments and support services, like:

• Psychiatric medication and psychological counseling
• Evidence-based psychotherapy
• Individual and group therapy
• Specialized treatment for Military Sexual Trauma (MST) or Interpersonal Violence (IPV)
• Transition and care management for post-9/11 combat Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND)

Learn more about PTSD

We work with behavioral health providers and community organizations to help you and your family during times of crisis. We offer:

• Suicide prevention care coordination
• Gun safety locks
• Crisis counseling
• Safety planning

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

Our Audiology and Speech Pathology clinic provides diagnostic and rehabilitative services, VA compensation and pension examinations, and screening for employee hearing conservation.
We offer a full range of audiology and speech pathology services like:

• Hearing and balance evaluations
• Selection, management, and repair of hearing aids and assistive listening device assessments
• Evaluation, programming, and management of cochlear implants and bone-anchored implants
• Evaluation and treatment for auditory processing disorder
• Services that help with speech, language, fluency, voice, cognitive communication, swallowing, stuttering, and laryngectomy (surgical removal of the larynx, which contains your vocal cords)

Learn more about VA hearing aids

Our low vision outpatient clinic can assess your needs and provide a rehab plan tailored to your personal goals. Our team of specialists and social workers will work with you to find the right aids and services. Our clinic services include:

• Comprehensive eye exams
• Visual skills assessments
• Guidance on how to develop visual motor and perceptual skills
• Training to help you manage daily activities with your vision loss

We perform noninvasive and minimally invasive tests and procedures that check, support, and improve your heart health. We'll work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan and treat you with the most effective medications. Our services include:

• Evaluating you for coronary heart disease, heart-valve disease, and heart defects
• Determining how well blood flows through your heart vessels or find the cause of your heart failure
• Treating your heart vessels with nonsurgical or minimally invasive operations that open and support them through balloon angioplasty or stent placement
• Noninvasively monitoring you for changes in heart rhythm, using electrocardiograms (EKGs or ECGs), portable Holt monitors, or ultrasound
• Performing surgical treatments like pacemaker implants or cardiac catheterization (inserting a long, thin tube into an artery or vein)
• Stress Testing

We offer a range of hematology and oncology services. You can arrange appointments and consultation through your primary care provider. Our hematology and oncology services include:

• Chemotherapy
• Blood and platelet transfusions
• Mediport flushes to clean and maintain the small medical appliance inserted under your skin, making it easier to inject drugs and draw blood
• Evaluation and treatment of blood disorders and cancer
• Dedicated outpatient infusion center, working closely with radiation oncology, interventional radiology, general surgery, diagnostics, palliative care, and social services
• Bone marrow biopsies, to see whether your bone tissue is healthy and making a normal number of blood cells

Our laboratories provide a full range of clinical and diagnostic testing services. Our laboratory and pathology services include:

• Study of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids for illness management
• Testing for infectious diseases
• Cytopathology (study of unusual cells) and surgical pathology (study of tissue removed during surgery)
• Autopsy services

Our team of kidney doctors (nephrologists) actively manage all aspects of adult kidney disease, kidney and bladder stones, renal hypertension (high blood pressure caused by kidney disease), and mineral and bone disorders. We provide inpatient and outpatient services, like:

• Dialysis preparation and referral
• Home patient monitoring
• Kidney transplant evaluation
• Kidney disease education

We provide inpatient and outpatient services for chronic diseases and disorders that affect your brain, spine, and the nerves that connect them. Our neurologists read electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, which measure the electrical impulses brain cells use to communicate with each other. We evaluate and treat many neurological illnesses and disorders such as:

• Neuropathy (nerve damage), myelopathy and other spinal cord injuries, and radiculopathy (pinched nerves)
• Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis
• Stroke, dementia, and degenerative diseases
• Headaches (migraine, cluster headache, tension headaches, post traumatic headaches)
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Other neurological conditions

Our registered dietitians can help you maintain or improve your health with good nutrition tailored to your needs. Through group, individual, and telehealth sessions, we provide nutrition education and counseling in areas such as:

• Cardiovascular and heart health
• Chronic kidney disease
• Diabetes (including gestational diabetes)
• Eating disorders and digestive health
• Pregnancy and postpartum nutrition
• Weight management

We offer comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment for eye-related illnesses, injuries, and other issues. Our ophthalmology services include:

• Medical care for glaucoma, eye infections, and other conditions
• Surgery for cataracts, traumatic eye injuries, and other problems
• Treatment for eye conditions related to illnesses like diabetes or arthritis
• Plastic surgery to repair droopy eyelids, clear blocked tear ducts, and perform eyelid and facial reconstruction (Oculoplastics)

Our optometrists provide many eye-related services and treatments like:

• Vision services and eye exams
• Treatment for diseases and injuries of the retina, cornea, and other parts of your eye
• Low-vision services for conditions like macular degeneration that can't be corrected by glasses, surgery, or medication
• Special eye exams for diabetic patients

Our palliative and hospice care services support you and your family as you cope with a life-threatening or terminal illness. Palliative care works to provide comfort, reduce suffering, and improve the quality of life for patients being treated for serious illnesses. Hospice care focuses on helping patients with terminal illnesses to manage the final stages of their lives. Our palliative and hospice care services include:

• Pain and symptom management
• Emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial support for you and your family
• Help with practical issues that include an advance directive (living will), health care power of attorney, funeral arrangements, and applying for VA death and burial benefits
• Education to help you and your family make informed health care decisions and know what to expect as your health declines
• Bereavement care to help surviving family members during the grieving process

Physical therapy, occupational therapy and kinesiotherapy can help restore movement and function if you have been disabled by injury or disease.

If you're living with or recovering from an injury, illness, or chronic condition that limits your mobility and independence, we can help. Our physical, occupational, and movement therapists combine therapeutic exercise, counseling, education, and training to help you improve your health and quality of life. Our services include:

• Pain relief and joint mobilization
• Movement and exercise therapies to improve your strength, endurance, balance, and coordination
• Mobility assessment and training with wheelchairs, scooters, and walking devices
• Life skills training and activities to help you maintain the highest level of independence and functionality
• Aquatic therapy to manage chronic pain
• Evaluation and treatment for a wide range of medical, orthopedic, psychosocial, and neurological conditions

Our podiatry specialists evaluate and treat a wide range of injuries, diseases and disorders that affect your feet and ankles—from ingrown toenails to inflammation to diabetic foot ulcers.

After years of walking, running, marching, jumping, rappelling, and parachuting, many Veterans experience trouble with their feet and ankles. We can help treat those problems so you can continue to enjoy an active lifestyle. Our podiatry services include:

• Arthritis care for inflamed, swollen, or damaged joints
• Foot and ankle fracture treatment, repair of cartilage, torn tendons and ligaments
• Injections to reduce pain and swelling
• Joint arthroplasty (surgical repair or reconstruction) and replacement
• Minimally invasive surgery and post-surgical rehabilitation
• Foot health maintenance procedures (bunion removal, resurfacing, and nail trimming)

We provide and help you use medical aids, hearing aids, state-of-the-art adaptive home equipment and other equipment to help you preserve and increase your mobility and independence.

VA is the world's largest and most comprehensive provider of sensory aides and prosthetic devices. Veterans enrolled in the VA health care system and referred by a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician can receive a full range of services and equipment like:

• Artificial limbs and surgical implants, including artificial joints and pacemakers
• Wheelchairs and other medical devices
• Aids for Veterans who are blind, have low vision, or are hearing impaired
• Adaptive equipment and modifications to make your vehicle or home more accessible
• Other devices and services to help increase your mobility, dignity, and independence
• Clothing allowance for Veterans with devices that damage their clothing

We offer radiology and imaging services to diagnose and treat many medical conditions. Not all imaging services are available at every VA clinic. Contact your appointment location or call ahead to confirm the availability of the service you need or if you have questions.

The sleep medicine service diagnoses and treats your sleep problems, including trouble sleeping, breathing difficulties while sleeping, snoring, teeth grinding and jaw clenching.

At various points in our lives, all of us suffer from a lack of sleep. But, if you are spending enough time in bed and still wake up tired or feel very sleepy during the day, you may have a sleep disorder. We can help. Our sleep specialists can:

• Diagnose and treat sleep apnea and other sleep disorders
• Monitor your blood oxygen levels and heart rate
• Study your brain waves during sleep
• Evaluate possible causes for your excessive sleepiness
• Conduct sleep tests performed at home or in the lab
• Work with your doctors if you need surgery or dental appliances to help you get a good night's sleep

To order supplies, follow the link below:

https://www.va.gov/health-care/order-hearing-aid-or-CPAP-supplies-form/introduction

To send your provider a secure message, follow the link below:

https://www.va.gov/health-care/secure-messaging/

If you have a spinal cord injury or disorder, our specialists provide coordinated care throughout your life. We work to help you achieve your goals for independence, productivity and quality of life.

VA has the nation's largest system of care for spinal cord injuries and disorders. We provide a convenient, connected network of experts to care for you during each phase of your life. Our experienced primary care providers are trained to check for problems unique to spinal cord injuries.

• Pressure injuries
• Pneumonia
• Blood clots
• Bladder and sexual issues
• Constipation and other gastrointestinal problems
• Sexual issues
• ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
• MS (Multiple Sclerosis)

Since 2014, VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System has held the ALS Center of Excellence accreditation. 

Learn more about the VA spinal cord injuries and disorders care system

Veterans enrolled in VA health care will be offered an initial toxic exposure screening then follow-up screenings at least once every five years. Ask about a toxic exposure screening at your next appointment. 

We help Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless due to financial hardship, unemployment, addiction, depression, or transition from jail. Contact one of our care coordinators to get help with:

• Immediate food and shelter needs, including both transitional and permanent housing
• Job training, life skills development, and education
• Justice system navigation and community reentry from jail
• Financial support to prevent homelessness
• Addiction and depression treatment
• Health and dental care

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

We promote the health, welfare, and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) Veterans and their families. We focus on ensuring a safe, welcoming, and affirmative environment when providing you with sensitive and high-quality health care services like:

• Hormone therapy
• Substance use and alcohol treatment
• Testing and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI)
• Mental health care
• Psychosocial assessments for gender-confirming surgeries and hormone therapy

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

If you're a minority Veteran, we can help you get the services and benefits you need. Our Minority Veterans Program serves all Veterans who are Black American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Island Americans). We work to:

• Help the medical center address minority Veterans' needs
• Meet minority Veterans' needs in the local community
• Identify barriers and create a more accessible environment for minority Veterans
• Inform minority Veterans of VA benefits, services, and programs

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

We offer a wide range of activities (arts and crafts, games, sports, exercise) that we can adapt to your needs.

Recreation Therapy and Creative Arts Therapy Service provides patient-centered care coordination, clinical evaluation, and therapeutic interventions that integrate function, quality, and purposeful meaning to one's life.

If you’re returning from military service, we can help you readjust to civilian life and get started with VA health care. We can also help connect you with programs like mental health services and education and career counseling.

We can help you readjust to civilian life if you're returning from military service, on active duty, or an activated National Guard or Reserve member. Talk to one of our care coordinators about how to best use your health care benefits.

• Polytrauma care (if you have multiple traumatic injuries)
• Counseling and rehabilitation
• Mental and behavioral health services
• Family benefits counseling and assistance
• Referral assistance

Learn more and connect with a coordinator

Social work is integral to health care. We can help you and your family manage stress-related problems due to injury or illness, and find VA community resources to meet your needs like:

• Home health services
• Legal services
• Transportation
• Community living

We use the latest in secure digital technology to set up remote visits with our health care providers. We offer video conferencing, home telehealth services, and store-and-forward telehealth that lets you securely send your health information to experts at VA facilities. We offer telehealth visits with providers in:

• Mental health
• Retinal care (eye)
• Bariatric surgery (visit remotely with your weight-loss surgery team before and after your operation)
• Dermatology
• Rehabilitation
• Primary care

Learn more about telehealth

Our whole health approach empowers and equips you to take charge of your health, well-being, and quality of life. Whole health goes beyond your illnesses, injuries, or disabilities, and focuses instead on your values, goals, and overall health. It includes self-care and complementary therapies along with conventional medical care. Our whole health program includes:

• Acupuncture and Chiropractic
• Art and Music Therapy (drumming, guitar, songwriting)
• Mediation and Mindfulness training
• Yoga, Tai Chi and Walking classes
• Greenhouse
• Laughter for Wellness

Learn more about VA Whole Health