About us

About the VA Puget Sound Health Care System

VA Puget Sound Health Care System provides Veterans 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 10 locations in Western Washington, serving a 14-county area around Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest. Facilities include our Seattle and American Lake campuses, seven outpatient clinics in Edmonds, Everett, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Port Angeles, Puyallup, and Silverdale and two Community Resource & Referral Centers in Renton and Seattle for Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. We also have a Mobile Medical Unit to support rural care needs.

To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Puget Sound health services page.

VA Puget Sound has a reputation for excellence, innovation and extraordinary care for Veterans--our nation’s heroes. We strive to lead the nation in quality, efficiency and public service through our proven record of innovation and extraordinary care of Veterans.

VA Puget Sound is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Northwest Health Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 20 (VISN 20), which includes health care system in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Research and development

At VA Puget Sound's Seattle and American Lake campuses, 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. 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. 

VA Puget Sound maintains the VA’s fourth-largest research and development program, reflecting our commitment to provide the highest-quality care to Veterans. Our patients have access to the latest pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic techniques. The quality of “routine” care is enriched by the personal commitment of staff to increase their professional capabilities and to actively contribute to the advancement of their fields.

Major research areas include: 

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple blast exposures
• Memory improvement and Alzheimer’s disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and deployment health
• Parkinson’s disease
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Substance abuse
• Lower limb prosthetics
• Genomics
• Health services

Visit our list of centers of excellence and special emphasis programs

Teaching and learning

VA Puget Sound takes pride in our 70-year history of positive advancements and cutting-edge academic partnership and achievements that continue to improve health outcomes for the Veterans we care for. Our academic collaborations build on our passion to learn and power to heal.

In academic year 2021, VA Puget Sound trained over 1,900 health care professionals—from physicians, dentists and nurses to psychologists and social workers to highlight a few. Through its more than 130 active associated health, graduate medical and dental education and, nursing undergraduate, graduate, and research affiliations in Pacific Northwest and beyond, VA Puget Sound offers innovation and progressive training. And its collaborations with the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research are integral to ongoing discoveries.

VA Puget Sound began partnering with the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1951, primarily in the fields of medical, dental, nursing, mental health and social work. These future professionals are the nation’s health care workforce pipeline who will go on to care for Veterans and other patients in urban and rural communities across the U.S.  

During the pandemic, VA facilities such as VA Puget Sound worked with medical schools, universities, and colleges across the country to utilize health professions trainees to care for Veterans virtually and in-person while completing their training requirements.  VA Puget Sound continues to advance health professions training by adding new rotations here with Madigan Army Medical Center and securing a new residency in Neurologic Physical Therapy.  The number of physician residents training across the VA increased by more than 2,000 and, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, applications to medical schools have increased by 18 percent for the 2021 academic year.

Professional training in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties is available, including residencies in:

• Audiology
• Speech pathology
• Dietetics
• Health services research and development
• Radiology
• Optometry
• Podiatry
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Recreation therapy
• Psychology
• Health information management
• Information technology
• Medical informatics
• Dentistry

Fast facts

• Each year, VA Puget Sound supports approximately 1 million outpatient visits, admits 4,700 inpatients, performs 4,100 surgeries and conducts 173,500 virtual care visits.

• VA Puget Sound’s Women’s Health Program remains the largest in VISN 20 (the VA’s Northwest Network), with over 17,000 women Veterans (and growing!) enrolled for care.

• VA Puget Sound maintains relationships with Veteran Service Organization (VSO) partners and brief VSO representatives on changes that affect Veterans’ care. Our Veterans Advisory Council meets quarterly and includes stakeholders from Veterans’ groups.
• VA Puget Sound's Fisher House (Seattle campus) provides a cost-free “Home Away from Home” for Veterans, active-duty service members, their families and caregivers, while they are hospitalized or receiving care.  Guests have come from 48 states around the nation, and 14 countries around the globe.
• VA Puget Sound launched VA Ventures June 2020 to develop innovative ideas and diffuse them nationally to provide superior care and the best health outcomes to our Veterans. VA Ventures' major focus areas are: (1) Health care product development using advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D and bioprinting; and (2) Leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and immersive technologies as digital solutions to health care challenges.
• VA Puget Sound provides inpatient blind rehabilitation for Veterans and active-duty service members with visual impairments from VA’s Northwest Network (VISN 20) and Montana.

Accreditations and achievements

Underscoring its commitment to safe, quality care, VA Puget Sound accreditation, includes:

• The Joint Commission Gold Seal
• ALS Association Certified Treatment Center of Excellence
• American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Target:
• Stroke Gold Plus and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll quality achievement awards
• Commission on Cancer Care Accredited
• CARF accredited programs:
• Community Housing and Outreach Services
• Community Reintegration Services (employment services)
• Mental Health Intensive Case Management
• Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Program (domiciliary)
  • Homeless Care
  • PTSD
  • Substance Abuse
  • Compensated Work Therapy/Transitional Residence
• Pain Program
• Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center
• Rehabilitation Care Services
  • Inpatient Rehabilitation
  • Amputation Specialty Program
  • Stroke Specialty Program
  • Blind Rehabilitation
• Spinal Cord Injury Unit

Annual reports and newsletters

Annual reports

Newsletters

Important things to know at VA Puget Sound today

Helping you stay informed about programs and services that matter!  

• Masks & Visitation Policy 

  • Masks for visitors (to include children aged 2-years and older) are optional except while visiting areas designated as high-risk.
  • No children under 2 permitted in high-risk areas.
  • Visitors must be COVID-19 negative.
  • Children under 18 must remain with accompanying adult. Staff will not attend to visiting children nor can children be left alone during care visit.

  Visitors:

  Emergency Room:

  • 1 adult visitor only
  • Children case-by-case

  Inpatient Rooms:

  • 1 adult visitor at a time
  • Children under 18 permitted (not in COVID positive patient rooms)
  • Children under 2-years-old not permitted in multi-patient rooms (because they cannot mask)
  • Visitation limited to 2 hours at a time

  Outpatient:

  • Children under 18 permitted
  • Please wait in designated waiting areas.
  • Veterans and visitors arriving for Same Day procedures that require a designated driver will check in as directed in their pre-procedure calls.

• Whole Health Roadshow coming to a location near you!  VA Puget Sound is hitting the road with our Whole Health Roadshow.  Our 30-minute live program will focus on easy health and well-being steps you can take each month based on your personal health goals. Veterans will be introduced to proven ways you can reduce anxiety and even diminish pain—from sound baths and mindfulness to tai chi. We’ll wrap up the program with a Whole Health Challenge—something our Veterans (and staff) can do at home. After the program, Veterans can spend time at our one-stop resource fair which brings together subject-matter-experts who can help navigate the VA in areas from housing assistance and VA health care enrollment to the process of filing a PACT Act claim and your care options after hours and on the weekends. Refreshments and swag will be available as well!

  Along with onsite events, we’ll be streaming the program on our Facebook as well. 
  
  We’ll be hosting one Whole Health Roadshow each month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., moving across Western Washington. Our initial event locations include:

  • April 11: Seattle Campus (Building 101, Basement lobby), 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle
  • May 9: American Lake Campus (Auditorium), 9600 Veterans Drive Southwest, Tacoma
  • June 13: Everett Community Clinic, 220 Olympic Boulevard, Everett
  • July 11: Silverdale Community Clinic, 9177 Ridgetop Boulevard NW, Silverdale

• Keep unused medications out of our lakes, streams and the wrong hands by participating in VA Puget Sound’s Rx Take-Back Event
  To assist Veterans and local community to dispose of unused or expired prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs, VA Puget Sound Health Care System is hosting Rx Take-Back Events on April 26, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at its main campuses in Seattle and Lakewood, Washington.
  
  “Keeping unused medications out of our lakes, our streams and the wrong hands is important,” said VA Puget Sound Health Care System Associate Chief of Pharmacy Eric Chantelois. “By participating in VA Puget Sound’s Rx Take-Back Event, we can help you safely dispose of expired or unwanted prescriptions—including controlled substance medication—and over-the-counter drugs.” 
  
  VA Puget Sound opens its doors to public participation during its Rx Take-Back Event, offering safe disposal options for the public in alignment with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency’s twice yearly National Prescription Drug Take Back Days. 
  
  Prescription and over-the-counter medications, including controlled substances and liquid medications, can be dropped off that Friday at these VA Puget Sound locations: 

  • American Lake Campus: 9600 Veterans Drive Southwest in Tacoma, Building 81, Pharmacy Lobby (Room 1089)
  • Seattle Camus: 1660 South Columbian Way. Building 100, Outpatient Pharmacy Lobby (Room 1D-145)

  
  Illegal drugs, needles and sharps, medical devices or batteries, aerosol medications are not accepted. 
  Along with Rx Take-Back drop off locations offered by VA Puget Sound, people can find authorized collection sites by visiting the DEA Public Disposal Location search tool - https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main;jsessionid=ZRpOWuKgCnO1aUXHxUTdAMGhLTkDwLdg0YvVQqDB.web2?execution=e1s1

• CLOSURE OF AMERICAN LAKE BUILDING 61 UPDATE: We appreciate your continued understanding and patience as repairs will be ongoing. We anticipate a phased approach to re-occupy Building 61 as construction is completed. Until that time, care has been relocated as follows:
  • Building 5: Addiction Treatment Clinic and Pain Clinic
  • Building 6, 1st floor: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
  • Building 7, 2nd floor: PTSD Outpatient Clinic and Clozapine Clinic
  • Building 81, Pharmacy: Methadone dispensing
  • Building 85, 2nd floor: Psychiatric Assessment and Clinical Center/Same Day Access and Mental Health Clinic
  • Building 85, 3rd floor: Neuropsychology
  • Building 148: Mental Health Intensive Case Management and the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center program
• Service Animals are welcome at VA Puget Sound Health Care System. VHA Directive 1188, Animals on Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Property includes clarification that a service animal can only be a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks to assist a person with a disability. You can learn more about the latest updates to our service animal policy by reading Memorandum RI-014. And you can report any unsafe behaviors with any animals to VA Police Dispatch at 206-746-2899.

• Centralized Vaccine Clinic: VA Puget Sound offers walk-in Centralized Vaccine Clinic ay Seattle (Building 100, East Clinic check-in) and American Lake (Building 81, Primary Care check-in) Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Vaccines offered: flu, COVID-19, shingles, Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), pneumococcal and RSV (with doctor’s order). No appointment needed.
• Pharmacy hours changing at American Lake in June: Beginning June 3, 2024, pharmacy hours at American Lake will change to 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Here are they ways you can refill your VA prescriptions:  
  • Online with My HealtheVet: You must have a My HealtheVet Premium account (it is free), have registered as a VA Patient or CHAMPVA beneficiary and have a prescription written by a VA or authorized community care provider that that has previously been filled at a VA pharmacy.
  • Telephone Call: The phone number of your local VA pharmacy can be found on your prescription label. To order refills by phone, you will need the prescription number (shown as RX # on the prescription label) and your Social Security Number.
  • Mobile App: VA Health and Benefits mobile app (https://mobile.va.gov/app/va-health-and-benefits). Once you download the app, create a log in (if needed), login, select Health at the bottom of the app, and then select Prescriptions to manage your refills. Questions? .
  • By Mail: Most VA prescriptions can be sent to you by the VA Mail Order Pharmacy. VA Pharmacy provides a refill request form  with your medications.
• Must file travel claims within 30 days: When the national emergency related to COVID ended, it brought back the 30-day requirement to file travel claims which had been on hiatus since the pandemic. To get started on your claim, visit access.va.gov and select the Veteran Travel Claim Entry icon. From there, you’ll be able log on using a DS-Logon Level 2 account, with a VA PIV card, with ID.me or with your My HealtheVet credentials. While you can still file a VA Form 10-3542 and drop if off at one of main campuses, filing online is encouraged as it is the fastest way to be reimbursed. When a Veteran files a paper claim, the Beneficiary Travel Team must manually load and process that claim in BTSSS for the Veteran.  This takes significantly longer to process this way, leading to substantial backlogs, increasing the wait time to be paid for all Veterans filing this way.  More information about VA travel pay reimbursement can be found here: VA Travel Pay Reimbursement | Veterans Affairs
  
  Instructions for using the Beneficiary Travel Self Service System
  
  Sign in with your existing Login.gov, ID.me, DS Logon, or My HealtheVet account. If you don’t have any of these accounts, you can create a free Login.gov or ID.me account now - VA Travel Pay Reimbursement | Veterans Affairs
• Toxic Exposure Legislation | PACT Act:  Want to know how the toxic exposure legislation will affect your benefits? What does it mean to have a presumptive condition for toxic exposure? Want to file a benefits claim?  Click here for our PACT Act Quick Guide, Call 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711) or visit https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/