Palo Alto VA Medical Center-Livermore

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

• Rehabilitation
• Health maintenance
• Community support

Learn more about our VA treatment programs

We diagnose and treat conditions affecting your hearing, speech or balance. These include hearing loss, tinnitus (noise or ringing the ears) and dizziness—also speech, language, voice or swallowing disorders.

Our audiology clinical staff provide diagnostic and rehabilitative services, VA compensation and pension examinations, and screening for employee hearing conservation. We offer a full range of audiology services to include:

• Hearing and balance evaluations to include ototoxic monitoring
• Tinnitus management (ringing, buzzing, and/or noises in the ear)
• Hearing conservation
• Selection, evaluation, programming, and management of hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone-anchored implants, and assistive listening devices
• Aural rehabilitation for patients and family members
• Evaluation and treatment for auditory processing disorder

Learn more about VA hearing aids

Our speech pathology clinical staff provide diagnostic and rehabilitative services. We offer a full range of speech pathology services to include:

• Speech, language, and articulation assessment including stroke evaluations
• Voice gender affirming therapy
• Executive functioning and problem solving management
• Cognitive assessments including traumatic brain injury evaluations
• Management of head and neck cancer and laryngectomee patients
• Stuttering therapy
• Swallowing therapy

We offer advanced vision care and blind rehabilitation services to help you live independently. These may include vision-enhancing devices and technology as well as visual skills and related training.

Our Western Blind Rehabilitation Center provides comprehensive and specialty vision rehabilitation programs for Veterans who are visually impaired, including:

• 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

• COVID-19 vaccines for eligible Veterans and staff

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines at VA

Our cardiology specialists offer advanced treatment and care for conditions affecting your heart and blood vessels, including heart disease, stroke, heart rhythm disorders and high blood pressure. 

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)

If you’re eligible for VA dental care, we offer a full range of quality dental services like:

• Routine exams and teeth cleaning
• Restorative procedures, including fillings and crowns
• Comprehensive surgical care, including extractions (pulling teeth) and oral cancer screening
• Routine and advanced prosthodontic care, including bridges, dentures, and dental implants
• Routine and advanced periodontal care, including root canals, gum treatments, and supporting bone care
• Oral and facial reconstruction surgery to repair damage from traumatic injury or serious illness

Our dermatologists offer expert treatment for a range of conditions that affect your skin, hair and nails—from acne to psoriasis to skin cancer. We also offer skin cancer screening and education.

We provide care for many medical and surgical skin conditions. Our dermatology services include:

• Medically necessary treatments for skin conditions like skin cancer and rashes
• Specialized treatments for acute (short-term) and chronic (long-lasting) skin conditions, like psoriasis, eczema, warts, and fungal illnesses
• Evaluation, biopsy, and treatment of cancerous or pre-cancerous skin conditions, like abnormal moles and lesions.
• Referrals for complex conditions
• Teledermatology (a telehealth resource), which gives patients quick access to expert opinions

Our gastrointestinal (GI) specialists offer screening and treatment for conditions affecting your GI tract, gallbladder, liver and pancreas—like reflux, Crohn’s disease, hepatitis and pancreatitis.

We diagnose and treat medical conditions in your esophagus, stomach, intestines, colon, and other parts of your digestive system. We can also test and treat other organs, like your liver, pancreas, and gallbladder. Our gastroenterology department provides services like:

• Colonoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which use an endoscope (a long, flexible tube with a small camera on the end) that lets us examine your digestive system
• Endoscopic ultrasound, which uses high-frequency sound waves to create images that help us diagnose and evaluate digestive and lung diseases
• Small bowel capsule endoscopy, which uses a tiny wireless camera that takes pictures as it moves through your digestive system
• 24-hour pH study, which measures how much stomach acid is flowing into your esophagus and helps us assess conditions like severe heartburn and acid reflux

If you have a diagnosis of HIV or hepatitis A, B or C, we can provide you with the latest treatment methods and support. We also offer prevention education and testing for these infectious diseases.

If you and your family are living with HIV or hepatitis, our dedicated professionals can provide compassionate care and counseling. Our confidential services include:

• HIV testing and treatment
• Medication (PEP) taken after potential exposure to HIV
• Specialty care referrals
• One-to-one patient education

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

• Immediate food and shelter, including both transitional and permanent housing
• Residential rehabilitation
• Job training, life skills development, and education
• Support with justice system navigation and community re-entry from jail
• Financial support to prevent homelessness
• Treatment for addiction and depression
• Health and dental care

Learn more

We evaluate and treat Veterans for serious or complex infections, including:

• Bone/joint infections
• Heart and vascular infections
• Complex lung, kidney/bladder infections
• Serious or recurrent skin and soft tissue infections
• Brain/spinal cord (central nervous system) infections
• Infections in immunocompromised persons
• Travel-related infection/illness
• Tuberculosis
• Valley fever

We also provide services for those seeking pre-travel vaccine/prevention recommendations, and HIV prevention counseling and treatments (PrEP).

State-of-the art care for Veterans with HIV/AIDS is delivered in the VA Palo Alto Immune Clinic (see “HIV/hepatitis care”).

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

We offer easy-to-follow weight management plans backed by the latest science. Our experts can help you reduce health risks, prevent or reverse some diseases and live a better—and even longer—life.

MOVE! is a weight-management program designed to help you live a longer, healthier life. The program’s comprehensive approach focuses on healthy eating, staying physically active, and strategies to make and maintain these healthy lifestyle habits. The MOVE! program offers:

• Group classes, where you will learn and discuss in a positive, supportive environment
• An evidence-based curriculum based on sound science
• Behavioral change strategies that focus on your long-term health and well-being
• A team of clinicians and health coaches who work throughout VA Palo Alto health care

Learn more and get started with the MOVE! Introduction class at VA Palo Alto. Virtual appointments are available. View scheduling information under Whole health offerings.

You can also learn more about the MOVE! program, and access weight management and healthy living resources on VA’s MOVE! weight management program website.

Our medical center and 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

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

We offer care for military sexual trauma in our mental (behavioral) health and specialty clinics. Military sexual trauma refers to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other threatening, offensive, or unwanted sexual advances, activities, or remarks that you experienced in the military. Our goal is to help you improve your quality of life with strategies to manage emotions and memories related to your military sexual trauma. Our services include:

• Counseling
• Psychiatric care
• Walk-in care

Learn more about military sexual trauma

Our specialists evaluate and treat conditions and diseases of the brain, spine, and nervous system, including headache, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.

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
• Other neurological conditions

Our nutrition experts work closely with you and your care team to help make sure you’re getting the nutrition you need to get and stay as healthy as possible.

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

Our ophthalmology specialists diagnose and provide medical and surgical care for conditions that affect your eyes—like cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. 

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 offer you routine eye exams, preventive vision testing and treatment for conditions like glaucoma. We also provide prescriptions for eyeglasses and other assistive devices.

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
• Brain injury vision rehabilitative services for those suffering visual deficits from head trauma and strokes.
• Special eye exams for diabetic patients
• Brain injury vision rehabilitative services for those suffering visual deficits from head trauma and strokes

Our orthopedists offer advanced care and treatment for issues related to muscles, bones and joints, including arthritis, disorders of the muscles and bones, tendon and ligament repair and joint replacement.

Our service deals with musculoskeletal problems of the arms and legs that may need surgery. These include fractures of bones, joint problems such as arthritis, injuries to tendons and ligaments, and orthopedic tumors in any location. Presently, spine problems are addressed by either physical medicine and rehabilitation (non-surgical) or neurosurgery (surgical). Hand problems are addressed by the Hand Service that is run by Plastic Surgery.

We personally see patients in Palo Alto, Livermore, San Jose, and Monterey. We also provide orthopedic consultations for Veterans in their own homes with VA telemedicine technology. Telemedicine visits can be done for Veterans in any location as long as they have a computer and an adequate internet connection.

Contact us

A consult from your primary care physician is required to schedule a clinic appointment. Our main number is 650-493-5000 ext. 66101.

Instructional videos for patients

Joint replacement surgery pre-op class (video link)

What to expect when having joint replacement surgery

Feedback survey / Question form

Total knee replacement at VA Palo Alto (video link)

What to expect when having total knee replacement surgery

Physical therapy after total knee replacement (video link)

Exercises you should do before and after surgery

Total hip replacement surgery at VA Palo Alto (video link)

How to prepare for surgery and what to expect before, during and after your hospitalization

Nerve block system regional anesthesia (video link)

Learn more about the procedure

Resources

• Total hip replacement (orthoinfo.org)
• Total knee replacement (orthoinfo.org)
• Other orthopedic injuries and surgeries (orthoinfo.org)

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 and psychological counseling
• Treatment for co-occurring disorders (including addictive behaviors)
• PTSD Clinical Team (PCT) offering specialized outpatient treatment for PTSD
• Trauma Recovery Services (TRS), including:
  • PTSD Intensive Outpatient Program (PTSD-IOP)
  • Men’s Trauma Recovery Program (MTRP): Men’s residential treatment
  • Women’s Trauma Recovery Program (WTRP): Women’s residential treatment
• Services for Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
• Transition and care management for returning Veterans (OIF/OEF/OND)

Learn more about PTSD

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)

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

Recreation and creative arts therapists provide non-traditional and innovative techniques that assist Veterans in reaching their treatment goals and obtaining improved health and quality of life. Our services include:

• Assess leisure functioning
• Develop programs based on assessed needs
• Implement and evaluate programs
• Discharge planning
• Community reintegration outings
• Public transportation education and utilization
• Community resource development
• Adaptive sports participation
• Evaluation of adaptive equipment
• Leisure education with Veterans and their families
• Water and land-based fitness and wellness programs
• Use of therapy dogs
• Art therapy
• Music therapy
• Massage therapy
• Stress management
• Relapse prevention
• Coping techniques

Please note: The pools and fitness facilities at VA Palo Alto and Menlo Park are now open for clinic appointments and self-directed use. Due to social distancing requirements, self-directed users are required to reserve time to use these facilities, prior to visiting. To inquire about hours and new procedures, please call 650-493-5000, Palo Alto ext. 65531, or Menlo Park ext. 22841.

We provide long-term care to help you and your family when you’re dealing with a disability, chronic (long-lasting) illness, terminal illness, or serious health issues related to aging. Our long-term health care services include:

• 24/7 nursing and medical care
• Physical therapy
• Help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, making meals, and taking medicine
• Pain management and palliative care to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for people with serious illnesses
• Hospice care to provide comfort and compassionate care for people in the last phases of an incurable illness

Learn more about VA long-term care

We evaluate, diagnose, and treat a wide range of urology diseases and conditions that include kidney stones, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, prostate cancer, and more. We provide you with medical care, surgery, and minimally invasive procedures for health issues that affect:

• Kidneys
• Bladder
• Ureter and urethra
• Male reproductive organs

Whole health centers around what matters to you, not what is the matter with you. This means working with you to develop a personalized health plan based on your values, needs, and goals. A plan that you and your health care team will use to guide and plan your care throughout your VA experience. Whole health integrates not only traditional clinical care, but helps to activate you on self-care skills and tools to keep you healthy and doing the things that work for you. In addition, whole health is helping to make more complementary and integrative health offerings available.

Call 650-849-0131 to speak with a Whole Health Coach today!

Well-being:

• Tai chi / Qi gong
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Guided imagery

Treatment

• Chiropractor and acupuncture
• Biofeedback
• Clinical hypnosis
• Massage therapy

View our whole health offerings

Learn more about VA whole health

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 comprehensive health care for women Veterans of all ages. Our women’s health primary care providers (WH-PCPs) specialize in meeting women’s health care needs at all primary care clinics throughout the health care system.

Women’s health PCPs work closely with specialists in gynecology, obstetrics, pelvic floor therapy, oncology, cardiology, rheumatology, anesthesia pain, mental health, and radiology.

Learn more and connect with a Women Veterans Program Manager

We provide thoughtful, compassionate diagnosis and treatment for Veterans with acute or chronic wounds or those who need ostomy care.

Healing your wounds is an important step in your recovery and rehabilitation. Our wound care team will assess your wound, determine where you are in the healing process, and provide a treatment plan for your care. If you’ve had ostomy surgery and are living with either a temporary or permanent stoma (a surgical opening to allow urine, feces, or body fluids to exit your body), we can help you manage the care of your stoma, make good product choices, and cope with the effects of ostomy surgery. We provide care and support for:

• Open, non-healing, and hard-to-heal wounds
• Localized incisions and infected or draining wounds
• Pressure injuries (also known as bedsores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers)
• Amputations
• Wounds or leaking seals around your stoma
• Skin rashes