About us
At the VA Bay Pines Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families every day.
About VA Bay Pines health care
The VA Bay Pines Healthcare 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 9 locations in central southwest Florida. Facilities include our C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Bay Pines and 8 community-based outpatient clinics in Bradenton, Cape Coral, Naples, North Pinellas, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Sebring. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Bay Pines health services page.
The VA Bay Pines Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Sunshine Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (VISN 8), which includes medical centers and clinics in Florida, Georgia, and the Caribbean.
Research and development
At the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center, 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.
Major research areas include:
- Audiology
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Infectious diseases
- Mental health
- Neurology
- Oncology
- Orthopedics
- Pulmonary
- Wound healing
Teaching and learning
Our C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research.
We have active affiliations with the University of South Florida College of Medicine and Nova Southeastern University, School of Osteopathic Medicine. We offer residency training in all major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. We also provide associated health training in nursing, psychology, audiology, dentistry, dietetics, and pharmacy.
Every year we train more than 40 medical residents and more than 700 medical and nursing students and associated health trainees.
We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.
Fast facts
- VA Bay Pines Healthcare System provides primary and specialty health care services to Veterans living in 10 counties in central southwest Florida. They include Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties.
- Bay Pines VA Medical Center originally opened in 1933. It’s located on 337 acres on the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 8 miles northwest of downtown Saint Petersburg.
- In 2013, our medical center was renamed in honor of the late C.W. Bill Young, who represented Florida’s 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 2013. Young was a strong advocate for Veterans. At the time of his death in 2013, he was the longest serving Republican member of Congress.
- VA Bay Pines Healthcare System has approximately 4,300 employees and serves more than 110,000 Veterans every year.
- Our medical center has 397 operating beds.
- In 2019, we had 9,776 total admissions, and 1.4 million outpatient visits (an average of 3,836 outpatient visits every day).
- Bay Pines VA Healthcare System was the first VA site in Florida to receive Stroke Certification.
Accreditation
Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:
- The Joint Commission
- Commission of Accreditation on Rehabilitation Facilities
- Commission on Cancer
- American Society for Radiation Oncology
- Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care
- Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation
- College of American Pathologists
- American Association of Blood Banks
- Food and Drug Administration
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- National Health Physics Program
- Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP)
The VA Bay Pines Healthcare System has received the following awards:
- Robert W. Carey Circle of Excellence Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Nationwide recognition as a Top Performer in Key Quality Measures® from The Joint Commission in 2013 and 2014
- Cornerstone Recognition Award gold winner from the VA National Center for Patient Safety for 7 years in a row