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About us

At the VA Phoenix Health Care System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families every day. We proudly serve Veterans in central Arizona at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center and 12 community based outpatient VA clinics.

About VA Phoenix Health Care System 

The VA Phoenix 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 13 locations in central Arizona. Facilities include our Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center and 12 community-based outpatient clinics in Gilbert, Globe, Payson, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Show Low, and Surprise. We also operate a mobile clinic to provide care to Veterans who can’t easily visit one of our facilities. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Phoenix health services page

The VA Phoenix Health Care System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Desert Pacific Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 22 (VISN 22). VISN 22 includes medical centers and clinics in Arizona, Southern California, and New Mexico. 

Learn more about VISN 22

Research and development

At the VA Phoenix Health Care System, 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. More than 100 studies are ongoing, conducted by dozens of our professional researchers. We offer Veterans the opportunity to participate in and benefit from this work. Our goal is to use research to promote better health and health care for all.

Teaching and learning

Our Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We provided professional training in 2022 for more than 1,400 medical professionals in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. 

Fast facts

  • Our main hospital is named for U.S. Sen. Carl Hayden, a Tempe native who became the first person to be elected to seven terms in the Senate. Hayden served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1912 to 1927, before serving in the Senate from 1927 to 1969.
  • The Phoenix VA Healthcare System received a 4-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). which uses 5 categories - mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care - to award a 1-star to 5-star rating for each hospital.

  • The Phoenix VA Health Care System serves the health care needs of more than 139,000 Veterans in central Arizona, which is 68% of eligible Veterans.

  • As of September 2023, we employed 4,239 people, including 350 physicians and 1162 nurses.
  • We completed more than 1.45 million outpatient visits in 2022.
  • The National Office of Rural Health selected the VA Phoenix Health Care System for 7 tele-rehabilitation programs.

Accreditations and achievements

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from the:

  • Joint Commission
  • Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
  • Long-Term Care Institute (LTCI)
  • American College of Radiology
  • College of American Pathologists
  • Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)
  • American Association for Accreditation of Blood Banks (AABB)
  • Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
  • U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The VA Phoenix Health Care System has received the following awards:

  • Our Pain Management Program is recognized by the Joint Commission for its work in treating opioid abuse.
  • We won VA’s Community Partnership Award in 2018 for its “Be Connected” suicide prevention effort.
  • Our Anticoagulation Program is recognized as an Anticoagulation Center of Excellence for the quality of care it provides Veterans.