Skip to Content

About us

At the VA Philadelphia Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of you and your family every day.

About the VA Philadelphia Healthcare System

Philadelphia health care provides you with world-class 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 6 locations in Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey: the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (hospital) and 5 community-based outpatient clinics. We also have a community living center (nursing home). To learn more about the services each Philadelphia health care location offers, visit the Philadelphia health care page.  

Philadelphia health care, which serves the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States, is one of the nation’s leading health care systems and a top-ranked care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 4 (VISN 4). VISN 4 includes medical centers in Altoona, Butler, Coatesville, Erie, Lebanon, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania; Wilmington in Delaware; and 44 outpatient clinics in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. Learn more about VISN 4. 

Research and development

Philadelphia health care is known for its outstanding research program. We support more than 200 research projects conducted by more than 100 researchers. 

Our medical center has several National Research Centers of Excellence, like:

  • Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center
  • Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center
  • Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion
  • Center of Excellence for Substance Abuse Treatment and Education
  • Regional Sleep Center

Our medical center is also a national Polytrauma Rehabilitation site and home to the National Center for Homelessness Among Veterans.

Teaching and learning

The Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, a leading teaching hospital, is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. We offer residencies in all major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. We also offer associated health training in nursing, dentistry, psychology, audiology (hearing), social work, dietetics (nutrition), and pharmacy.

Each year, more than 500 residents train at our hospital and clinics in various specialties. We also train more than 200 medical students every year. 

Fast facts

  • In 2022, we served 61,482 Veterans in our 7-county service area: 92.2% men and 7.8% women Veterans. 
  • We had 3,036 full-time employees in 2022.
  • Our annual operating budget is about $718 million (includes Special Purpose $70million)
  • In 2022, we had 678,013 outpatient visits and 7,091 hospital admissions. 

Accreditation

The VA Philadelphia Medical Center has received accreditation from:

  • American Academy of Sleep Medicine 
  • American Association of Blood Banks
  • American College of Radiation Oncology
  • American College of Radiology
  • American Psychological Association
  • Association of Accreditation for Human Research Protection Programs 
  • Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care
  • College of American Pathologists
  • Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
  • Commission on Cancer  
  • The Joint Commission
  • Long-Term Care Institute

Annual reports and newsletters

Annual report

Newsletters

VA Healthcare-VISN 4

Newsletter

Get the latest news from VISN 4 in our Vision for Excellence newsletter and learn how we are improving access to care and earning Veterans' trust.

Annual Report

Read the latest VISN 4 annual report for news about the many accomplishments across our network and what we have been doing to provide excellent care for Veterans.