Health services

In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest VA or non-VA emergency room. We provide immediate treatment for serious, life-threatening health emergencies such as severe chest pain, seizures, heavy uncontrollable bleeding or moderate to severe burns.

We strive to provide exceptional emergency medical care 24 hours a day, every day. Our emergency room staff can help you with the following problems:

• Life-threatening illnesses and injuries that require immediate attention
• Mental health conditions
• Psychiatric evaluations
  
   

Our specialists offer reproductive health care services for women Veterans, including contraception, pregnancy care and fertility treatment.

Our gynecologists evaluate and treat many women’s health issues. Our services include:     

• Mammograms for breast cancer, screenings for sexually transmitted disease, and Pap tests for cervical cancer
• Counseling and treatment for contraception, pregnancy, and infertility
• Osteoporosis screening for brittle bones 
• Exams for pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding in your uterus
• Treatment for cancers of the cervix, ovaries, uterus, vagina, and vulva
• Primary care checkups
  
   

Our specialists provide a full range of services to help you get and understand your prescription medicines and supplies. You can refill VA prescriptions online, by phone or by mail.

Our pharmacy provides you and other Veterans with convenient, confidential, and efficient service to make it easy to get your medications and medical supplies. We only fill new prescriptions in person at the pharmacy window, but you can refill your current prescriptions 3 different ways:

• Online at My HealtheVet. You need a user ID and password to log in, which you receive after creating your personal profile on My HealtheVet. 
• By phone through our automated refill service. You need your Social Security number and prescription number to complete the process. 
• By mail. Each prescription comes with refill request slips; please mail your requests at least 14 days before you need a new supply.

Learn more about our pharmacy.

 

Your VA primary care provider will work closely with you to plan for all the care you need to stay healthy and well throughout your life, including immunizations and vaccinations. They will also work with family members or caregivers who support you.

We take a team approach to health care that centers on you. You’ll work with family members, caregivers, and health care professionals to create a plan for your lifelong health and wellness. Internal medicine doctors (internists) prevent, diagnose, and treat adult diseases. Doctors who specialize in family medicine provide primary health care to the entire family. Your primary care team can coordinate the many services you receive, like: 

• Labs, blood work, and immunizations    
• Mental health care                                                         
• Radiology and cancer screenings
• Women’s health care
• Nutrition, weight, and smoke cessation counseling
• Social services       
  
   

We offer women’s health services to meet your specific needs such as disease screenings, mental health treatment, recovery from military sexual trauma, maternity care and female-specific medical equipment.

Our women's health program offers complete health care for women Veterans of all ages. Our primary care providers specialize in women’s health. They work closely with specialists in gynecology, obstetrics, female urology, oncology, medicine, radiology, surgery, and breast disease. Our services for women Veterans include:        

• Maternity care, childbirth education classes, and postpartum support    
• Ultrasounds, mammograms, and Pap and HPV tests
• Mental health care and counseling
• Lifestyle wellness services
• Menopause treatment, including hormonal therapy 
• Family planning, contraceptive care, and infertility evaluation

Learn more and connect with a Women Veterans Program Manager

We offer residential and outpatient treatment for addiction and substance abuse. Our services include:

• Alcohol screening
• Substance abuse counseling
• Outpatient detox
• Opiate abuse counseling, suboxone therapy (opioid replacement), and polysubstance abuse counseling (for patients who abuse or are addicted to multiple drugs)
• Preoperative evaluations and pain-management plans for surgical patients with a history of substance abuse
• Care management for patients who require opiate therapy for pain control, and need close follow-up and monitoring
  
   

If you’re struggling with issues like PTSD, depression, grief, anger or trauma, we offer counseling and other support. All VA health care facilities offer same-day help. You may qualify even without enrolling in VA health care.

Our medical center and clinics provide consultation, evaluation, and treatment for a range of issues that may impact your mental health or emotional well-being. Our confidential outpatient services include individual and group therapy for:

• Psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression
• Marriage and relationship problems
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Anxiety, addictive behaviors, and personality disorders
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator.

We offer care for military sexual trauma in our mental (behavioral) health clinics. Military sexual trauma refers to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other threatening, offensive, or unwanted sexual advances, activities, or remarks that you experienced during your military service. Our goal is to help you manage emotions and memories related to your military sexual trauma. Our services include: 

• Counseling
• Psychiatric care
• Walk-in care

Learn more about military sexual trauma.

 

If you have symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event, we can help. We offer assessment and treatment support such as private counseling, group therapy and medication. It’s never too late to get help.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. We can help you with effective treatments and support services, like:                                                    

• Psychiatric and psychological counseling                                      
• Services for homeless Veterans         
• Treatment for addictive disorders
• Transition and care management for post-9/11 combat Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) 

     
Learn more about PTSD.

 

If you’re struggling with a mental health problem—or just need to talk with someone—we can help. We offer treatment and support such as therapy, alternative treatments  and medications when needed.

Good mental health is a vital part of your overall wellness. Our psychiatry teams offer consultation, evaluation, and treatment to help you with a range of mental and behavioral health problems, including:

• Depression (including sadness and grief), anxiety (including worry and nervousness), and personality disorders                            
• Addictive behaviors and substance abuse
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and combat-related stress disorder 
• Emotional issues like anger management and relationship challenges, confused thinking, memory problems, and invasive thoughts or ideas               
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors     

If you’re struggling with a mental health problem—or just need to talk with someone—we can help. We offer treatment and support such as therapy, alternative treatments and medications when needed.

Our psychology teams offer consultation, evaluation, and treatment to help with a range of mental and behavioral health problems like:

• Depression (including sadness and grief), anxiety (including worry and nervousness), and personality disorders                            
• Addictive behaviors and substance abuse
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and combat-related stress disorder
• Emotional issues like anger management and relationship challenges               
• Confused thinking, memory problems, and invasive thoughts or ideas
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors      
  
   

Call our Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1 for free, private help anytime 24/7. Our local suicide prevention coordinators can also connect you with ongoing counseling and services.

We work with behavioral health providers and community organizations to help you and your family during times of crisis. We offer:

• Suicide prevention care coordinators
• Suicide prevention case managers
• Gun safety locks

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator.

 

We diagnose and treat conditions affecting your hearing, speech or balance. These include hearing loss, tinnitus (noise or ringing the ears) and dizziness—also speech, language, voice or swallowing disorders.

Our Audiology and Speech Pathology clinic provides diagnostic and rehabilitative services, VA compensation and pension examinations, and screening for employee hearing conservation.

We offer a full range of audiology and speech pathology services like:

• Hearing and balance evaluations
• Selection, management, and repair of hearing aids and assistive listening device assessments 
• Evaluation, programming, and management of cochlear implants and bone-anchored implants
• Evaluation and treatment for auditory processing disorder
• Services that help with speech, language, fluency, voice, cognitive communication, swallowing, stuttering, and laryngectomy (surgical removal of the larynx, which contains your vocal cords)

Learn more about receiving hearing aids through VA.

COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters Information

Wilmington VA Medical Center and affiliated Community Based Outpatient Clinics have begun offering Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster shots under Emergency Use Authorization. 

This decision follows the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization andbCDC recommendation for a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to:

• People 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings should receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series
• People aged 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions should receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series
• People aged 18–49 years with underlying medical conditions may receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risk
• People aged 18-64 years who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting may receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risks.

Please contact your care team if you have questions regarding eligibility of receiving your booster dose.

Veterans who receive care in VA and are due for booster shots will be identified through primary care teams, then contacted and advised of the recommended booster shots, which may be offered at scheduled appointments or on a walk-in/drive-thru basis. Veterans who received a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of VA, as well as persons who received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in VA for whom we don’t have records of their high-risk condition, will need to contact 1-302-994-2511 x5200. Those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine under authorization of the SAVE LIVES Act and are due for a booster shot, may consult with their physician if they have questions about whether they should receive a booster, and contact us at 1-302-994-2511 x5200 for an appointment or information about walk-in hours.

CDC advises that people can get both the COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine at the same time. Veterans receiving care at VA who wish to get a booster shot can get both shots together during the same visit. Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized as a booster shot. FDA and CDC continue to review data to determine whether and when a booster might be recommended for recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J)/Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine(s). Wilmington VA Medical Center and affiliated CBOCs will plan to offer boosters of these vaccines if authorized and recommended.

If you’re diagnosed with cancer, the skilled medical professionals on our cancer care team will focus on helping you improve your overall mind/body health and total well-being. Working with you, your primary care doctor, and other health care providers, we’ll develop a specialized treatment plan to offer personal, compassionate, and expert care. Our services include:

• Surgical removal of tumors and other cancerous tissue
• Immunotherapy, which helps your body’s natural defenses destroy cancer cells
• Chemotherapy, which uses powerful drugs to fight cancer
• Radiotherapy, which uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors
• Palliative care, to reduce pain and control other symptoms and side effects, like nausea
  
   

If you’re eligible for VA dental care, we provide dental screenings, cleanings, X-rays and fillings. We also provide specialty dental procedures like root canal, restorations and dentures.

If you’re eligible for VA dental care, we offer a full range of quality dental services, like:     

• Routine exams and teeth cleaning 
• Restorative procedures, including fillings and crowns
• Comprehensive surgical care, including extractions (pulling teeth) and oral cancer screening
• Routine and advanced prosthodontic care, including bridges, dentures, and dental implants 
• Routine and advanced periodontal care, including root canals, gum treatments, and supporting bone care
• Oral and facial reconstruction surgery to repair damage from traumatic injury or serious illness
  
   

Our dermatologists offer expert treatment for a range of conditions that affect your skin, hair and nails—from acne to psoriasis to skin cancer. We also offer skin cancer screening and education.

Care we provide at VA Wilmington

We provide care for many medical and surgical skin conditions. Our dermatology services include:

• Medically necessary treatments for skin conditions like skin cancer and rashes
• Specialized treatments for acute (short-term) and chronic (long-lasting) skin conditions, like psoriasis, eczema, warts, and fungal illnesses
• Evaluation, biopsy, and treatment of cancerous or pre-cancerous skin conditions, like abnormal moles and lesions.
• Referrals for complex conditions
• Teledermatology (a telehealth resource), which gives patients quick access to expert opinions

We offer blood tests and other advanced testing services to help you and your VA health care team monitor your health, find and understand any health problems and make informed treatment decisions.

Our laboratories provide a full range of clinical and diagnostic testing services. Our laboratory and pathology services include:

• Studies of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids for illness management
• Testing for infectious diseases
• Cytopathology (study of unusual cells) and surgical pathology (study of tissue removed during surgery) 
• Autopsy services
  
   

We offer easy-to-follow weight management plans backed by the latest science. Our experts can help you reduce health risks, prevent or reverse some diseases and live a better—and even longer—life.

MOVE! is a weight-management program designed to help you live a longer, healthier life. With the help of your MOVE! care team, you can eat a healthier diet, get more exercise, reduce your health risks, and improve your quality of life. The MOVE! program offers:

• Weight-loss support groups to help you lose weight and keep it off
• Healthy eating tips and cooking classes
• Behavioral change strategies to help you live a healthier lifestyle

Learn more about MOVE!

 

Our nutrition experts work closely with you and your care team to help make sure you’re getting the nutrition you need to get and stay as healthy as possible.

Our registered dietitians can help you maintain or improve your health with good nutrition tailored to your needs. Through group, individual, and telehealth sessions, we provide nutrition education and counseling to help you with: 

• Cardiovascular and heart health
• Chronic kidney disease
• Diabetes (including short-term diabetes during pregnancy)
• Eating disorders and digestive health problems
• Pregnancy and postpartum nutrition
• Weight management
  
   

Our optometrists offer you routine eye exams, preventive vision testing and treatment for conditions like glaucoma. We also provide prescriptions for eyeglasses and other assistive devices.

Our optometrists provide many eye-related services and treatments, like: 

• Vision services and eye exams
• Treatment for diseases and injuries of the retina, cornea, and other parts of your eye
• Low-vision services for conditions like macular degeneration that can’t be corrected by glasses, surgery, or medication
• Special eye exams for diabetic patients     
  
   

We provide a full range of care for Veterans who have problems that affect their ears, sinuses, adenoids, tonsils and thyroid.

We evaluate, diagnose, and treat a wide range of ear, nose, and throat conditions, like:

• Nasal and sinus problems
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Throat, lymph node, thyroid, and parathyroid tumors and other conditions
• Voice and swallowing disorders
  
   

Our podiatry specialists evaluate and treat a wide range of injuries, diseases and disorders that affect your feet and ankles—from ingrown toenails to inflammation to diabetic foot ulcers.

After years of walking, running, marching, jumping, rappelling, and parachuting, many Veterans experience trouble with their feet and ankles. We can help treat those problems so you can continue to enjoy an active lifestyle. Our podiatry services include:

• Arthritis care for inflamed, swollen, or damaged joints
• Foot and ankle fracture treatment, and repair of cartilage, torn tendons and ligaments     
• Injections to reduce pain and swelling                  
• Surgical joint repair, reconstruction, or replacement
• Minimally invasive surgery and post-surgical rehabilitation                       
• Foot health maintenance procedures, like bunion removal, skin resurfacing, and nail trimming
  
   

We provide medical care and rehabilitation services to Veterans in our Community Living Center and in their homes. Services include home-based primary care, medical foster home support, and hospice and palliative care.  

We provide long-term care to help you and your family when you’re dealing with a disability, chronic (long-lasting) illness, terminal illness, or serious health issues related to aging. Our long-term health care services include:

• 24/7 nursing and medical care
• Physical therapy
• Help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, making meals, and taking medicine
• Pain management and palliative care to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for people with serious illnesses
• Hospice care to provide comfort and compassionate care for people in the last phases of an incurable illness
• Support for caregivers who may need skilled help or a break so they can work, travel, or run errands

Learn more about VA long-term care.

The sleep medicine service diagnoses and treats your sleep problems, including trouble sleeping, breathing difficulties while sleeping, snoring, teeth grinding and jaw clenching.

CPAP | BiPAP recall information

VA has learned of the recall of some Philips Respironics Positive Airway Pressure devices (CPAP or BiPAP) used for sleep apnea. If you use a CPAP or BiPAP machine, pleases review the Frequently Asked Questions on the VHA National Center for Patient Safety website.

VA requests that you register your device through the Philips Respironics patient portal at:

• Web: www.philipssrcupdate.expertinquiry.com
• Phone: 877-907-7508

Philips Respironics will send a replacement device. This may take several months.

Reporting respiratory symptoms

If you are having any new respiratory symptoms, contact your Primary Care team at the VA immediately.

Reporting device problems

If you are having any problems with your device, contact us at 800-461-8262.

Clinical questions

• Sleep Center: 800-461-8262 ext. 4642

Other medical device questions

• Prosthetics Department: 800-461-8262 ext. 5343

If you are trying to quit smoking or want to stop using tobacco, we can help you with support, resources and programs.

When you quit smoking or chewing tobacco, you lower your blood pressure, improve lung function, and reduce your risk of cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Quitting isn’t easy, but more than half of adult smokers have quit successfully. You can, too, with these resources:

• Medication. We can provide FDA-approved medications to manage nicotine withdrawal and your urge to smoke. 
• Counseling. Medication combined with counseling, in person or over the phone, offers you the best chance to quit smoking and stay tobacco-free. 
• Tobacco Cessation Quitline. Call to make your quit plan, get individual counseling, and develop strategies to stay off tobacco. 
• SmokefreeVET. This text message program offers you daily advice and interactive support. 
• Stay Quit Coach. This mobile app helps you to quit smoking and stay smoke-free. 

Learn more about how to quit

 

We are experts in life-saving transplants, including kidney, liver, heart, lung, small bowel, bone marrow and stem cell.

Our transplant surgeons work to save or extend lives by transplanting healthy, fully functioning organs from living or deceased donors to patients who need one. We offer:

• Liver transplants    
• Kidney transplants    
• Heart transplants
• Lung transplants
• Referrals to other transplant centers
  
   

If you’re a caregiver for a Veteran, you can get support by contacting one of our caregiver support coordinators. If the Veteran you’re caringe for was injured post-9/11, you may be eligible for even more services, including a stipend to help with expenses, training, and medical coverage if you aren’t already covered. For all caregivers, we can:

• Help you get caregiver assistance available through VA
• Provide progressive needs planning to help you manage degenerative conditions
• Match you with services and benefits 
• Connect you with local resources and programs
• Listen to you when you struggle     
• Provide you with additional help at home

Learn more and connect with a support coordinator.

We help homeless Veterans, or those at risk of becoming homeless due to financial hardship, unemployment, addiction, depression, or transition from jail. Contact one of our care coordinators to get help with:      

• Immediate food and shelter needs, including both transitional and permanent housing
• Job training, life skills development, and education
• Justice system navigation and community reentry from jail
• Financial support to prevent homelessness
• Addiction and depression treatment
• Health and dental care

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator.

 

We promote the health, welfare, and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Veterans and their families. We focus on ensuring a safe, welcoming, and affirmative environment when providing you with sensitive and confidential health care services, like:

•  Hormone therapy
• Substance abuse and alcohol treatment
• Testing and treatment for HIV and STIs (sexually transmitted infections)
• Mental health care
• Psychosocial assessments for gender-confirming surgeries and hormone therapy

Learn more about LGBT care and connect with a care coordinator.

We offer resources and support for minority Veterans to help address your specific needs with benefits and services at VA.

If you’re a minority Veteran, we can help you get the services and benefits you need. Our Minority Veterans Program serves all Veterans who are African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Island Americans). We work to: 

• Help the medical center address minority Veterans’ needs
• Meet minority Veterans’ needs in the local community
• Identify barriers and create a more accessible environment for minority Veterans
• Inform minority Veterans of VA benefits, services, and programs

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator.

VA wants to make sure that you get the best possible care. If you need help finding care or getting problems resolved, please contact a patient advocate.

Our patient advocates work hard to make sure you receive the best possible care at our health care facilities. They can:        

• Help you get answers or address concerns with your care team    
• Advocate for patient and family rights    
• Serve as advocates for minority Veterans, women Veterans, and Veterans with disabilities    
• Offer specialized help to former prisoners of war and Veterans transitioning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND)

Learn more and connect with a patient advocate.

 

If you were exposed to toxic chemicals or other hazards during your military service, we offer you a free exam. This exam helps you identify potential health risks and helps us monitor issues so we can better serve you.

This free, voluntary, and comprehensive health exam involves an exposure and medical history, laboratory tests, and a physical exam. We will discuss your results in a face-to-face meeting and follow up with a letter. The registry evaluation, which does not verify exposure, is separate from VA’s disability compensation process. You may be eligible to participate in one or more of these health registries if you served during these time periods:

• Agent Orange (1960s and 1970s)
• Airborne hazards and open burn pit (1990s to present)
• Gulf War (1990s to present)
• Ionizing radiation (1940s to 1960s)
• Depleted uranium (DU) (1990s to present)
• Toxic embedded fragments/shrapnel (2000s to present) 

     
Learn more about VA Health Registry.

 

If you’re returning from military service, we can help you readjust to civilian life and get started with VA health care. We can also help connect you with programs like mental health services and education and career counseling.

If you’re returning from military service, on active duty, or an activated National Guard or Reserve member, we can help you readjust to civilian life. Talk to one of our care coordinators about how to best use your health care benefits. Our services include:

• Polytrauma care (if you have multiple traumatic injuries)
• Counseling and rehabilitation        
• Mental and behavioral health services                
• Family benefits counseling and assistance    
• Referral assistance     

Learn more about health care benefits for returning service members.

 

Social workers are here to help Veterans, families and caregivers with almost any need, from help with finances or housing to questions about treatment to just feeling overwhelmed. We are here for you.

Social work is an important part of health care. Through one-on-one counseling, family conferences, group classes, and VA community resources, we can help you and your family:

• Manage drug, alcohol, and emotional problems
• Understand and adjust to chronic (long-lasting) illness or disability
• Prepare advance directives and durable powers of attorney for health care or finances
• Cope with a terminal illness
• Make informed decisions about legal issues like commitment and guardianship
• Arrange transportation to and from medical appointments and health care facilities
  
   

With VA telehealth, you can get care from your health providers without having to travel. Get checkups and treatment, talk about your care and more—from home or elsewhere.

We use the latest in secure digital technology to set up remote visits with our health care providers. We offer video conferencing, home telehealth services, and store-and-forward telehealth that lets you securely send your health information to experts at VA facilities. We offer telehealth visits with providers in:        

• Mental health        
• Retinal (eye) care            
• Dermatology         
• Rehabilitation    
• Primary care
• Bariatric surgery (visit remotely with your weight-loss surgery team before and after your operation)

             
Learn more about VA Telehealth.

 

If you have to travel far for care, we may be able to reimburse (repay) you for travel expenses. We can also help arrange transportation for getting to and from your VA appointment.

If you’re traveling for VA-approved care, we can repay you for the cost of using regular transportation, like cars, planes, trains, buses, taxis, rideshare, or light rail. You may also be eligible for repayment when using ambulances, wheelchair vans, or ambulettes (non-emergency medical transportation). Our travel pay reimbursement services include:

• Round-trip transportation services between your home and our hospital and clinics (beneficiary travel)        
• Mileage reimbursement debit cards
• 302-994-2511, x4797 or x4062

Learn more about the VA travel program.

 

Our whole health approach empowers and equips you to take charge of your health, well-being, and quality of life. Whole health goes beyond your illnesses, injuries, or disabilities, and focuses instead on your values, goals, and overall health. It includes self-care and complementary therapies along with conventional medical care. Our whole health program includes:

• Acupuncture to help you manage pain without drugs
• Meditation and mindfulness training
• Yoga, tai chi, and qi gong classes 
• Massage and manual therapy

Learn more about VA whole health programs.