About us
At the VA Wilkes-Barre Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of you and your family every day.
About the VA Wilkes-Barre Healthcare System
Wilkes-Barre health care provides you with world-class health care and trains America’s future health care providers.
Health care and services
We provide you with health care services at 8 locations: the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center (hospital) and 7 community-based outpatient clinics. We also have a community living center (nursing home). To learn more about the services each Wilkes-Barre health care location offers, visit the Wilkes-Barre health care page.
Wilkes-Barre health care is one of the leading VA health care systems in Pennsylvania. We’re a top-ranked, innovative 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
Wilkes-Barre VA research and development
Teaching and learning
The VA Wilkes-Barre Medical Center is a leading teaching hospital in the area. We have academic partnerships with:
- The Commonwealth Medical College
- Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education
- Geisinger Health System
- Wyoming Valley Family Medicine Residence Program
- Drexel University College of Medicine
- St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network (medical residency affiliation with Allentown Community-Based Outpatient Clinic)
- Salus University (Pennsylvania College of Optometry)
We also support active affiliations with colleges, universities, and schools of allied health, which include Veterans Health Administration (VHA) affiliations in:
- Administrative assistant
- Art therapy
- Audiology
- Biomedical engineering
- Biomedical equipment technology
- Communications
- Dental assistant
- Dental hygienist
- Diagnostic medical sonography
- Emergency medical services
- Exercise science and athletics
- Health care technician
- Health information technology business
- Insurance billing specialist
- Laboratory assistant
- Medical assistants
- Medical imaging
- Medical office assistant
- Medical transcriptionist
- Mental health counseling
- Nursing (all areas)
- Nutrition and dietetics
- Occupational therapy
- Optometry
- Pharmacy
- Pharmacy technician
- Phlebotomy (blood work) technician
- Physical therapy
- Physician assistants
- Psychology
- Recreation and leisure services management
- Respiratory therapy
- Social work
- Surgical technician
- Visual science
Fast facts
- In 2018, we served 38,562 Veterans in our 19-county service area (18 counties in Pennsylvania, and Tioga County in New York), and we had 414,544 outpatient visits.
- We had 1,360 full-time employees, including 228 nursing staff and 101 physicians in 2018.
- About 18% of our employees are Veterans.
- Our annual operating budget is about $255 million.
- We have 173 operating beds: 58 hospital beds (including 30 inpatient care, 24 inpatient mental health, and 4 surgical beds), 105 community living center (nursing home) beds, and 10 beds in our substance abuse residential rehabilitation program.
- Our Connected Care program uses virtual technology to give you and other Veterans more convenient access to high-quality health services. In 2018, we served 5,244 Veterans through 10,512 Telehealth and 4,341 Telemental health care visits. We also served 1,213 Veterans through e-consult, and 5,616 used secure messaging to communicate with our staff.
Accreditation
Wilkes-Barre health care has received accreditation from:
- The Joint Commission—for Hospital, Nursing Care Centers, Home Care, and Behavioral Health
- Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
- College of American Pathologists
- American Association of Blood Banks
- Food and Drug Administration—for the Blood Bank
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission—for the Radiation Safety Program
- Pennsylvania Medical Society Commission on Continuing Medical Education
- American Diabetic Association—for Diabetic Education
- American College of Surgeons—for the Commission on Cancer
- American College of Surgeons (ACoS) Metabolic and Bariatric Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP)
- American Dental Association—for its General Practice Residency Program
- American Society of Health System Pharmacists
- Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs
- Accreditation Council on Optometric Education—for its Optometric Residency Program
Annual reports and newsletters
Annual reports
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.