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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.