Virtual care, urgent care, emergency room, or 911?

With VA Health Connect, you can:

• Speak or chat with a nurse who will recommend:
  • Treatment for your symptoms, or
  • A virtual appointment with a medical provider, or
  • A same-day appointment with a tele-emergency care provider
• Get help with your prescriptions
• Make an appointment

VA Health Connect is a simple way for you to virtually connect 24/7/365 with medical professionals, including tele-emergency care providers. Tele-emergency care offers on-demand, real-time access for Veterans who need emergency care. It’s a safe, secure and convenient way to receive same-day emergency care without having to travel or wait in an emergency room.  

Contact VA Health Connect if you:

• Have a condition that doesn’t need to be treated in person.
• Need care after hours or on weekends.
• Have issues that make it difficult to visit a VA facility.
• Live in a rural area or don’t have convenient access to a VA facility.
• Need to reduce potential exposure to COVID-19, flu and other infectious diseases.

Information from your call is added to your medical records so your care team stays up to date. 

Urgent care is for non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries, such as strep throat, pink eye or a strained muscle. Emergency care is for an injury, illness or symptom so severe that a sensible layperson reasonably believes that delay in seeking immediate medical attention would be hazardous to life or health. Such life-threatening major illnesses or injuries could include severe chest pain, seizures, loss of awareness, heavy uncontrollable breathing or severe burns. For emergency care, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department right away. Please note that VA can only pay for a Veteran’s emergency care under certain conditions.

For more information, visit Choosing between urgent and emergency care.

Contact your local VA medical facility to discuss options. Same-day primary and mental health services are available at all VA medical centers. In addition, VA continues to expand its contracted network of urgent care providers so that most Veterans are within a 30-minute drive time from their home to a network urgent care/retail location. 

If there are no in-network urgent care facilities nearby, can I visit an Emergency Department instead?

If you are having difficulties receiving urgent care services, contact your local VA medical facility. Same-day primary and mental health services are available at all VA medical centers. If you believe your life or health is in danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately. Please note that VA can only pay for a Veteran’s emergency care under certain conditions. 

For more information, visit the Emergency Care page. 

If you are having difficulties receiving urgent care services, contact your local VA medical facility. Same-day primary and mental health services are available at all VA medical centers. If you believe your life or health is in danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately. Please note that VA can only pay for a Veteran’s emergency care under certain conditions. 

For more information, visit the Emergency Care page. 

Individual health conditions are complex and unique to each Veteran. As a result, and to encourage Veterans to seek care when they need it, VA does not publish a specific list of covered services. Preventive care and dental services are excluded.

To find a participating urgent care clinic or provider, use the VA Facility Locator. There are currently two types of urgent care network locations: walk-in retail health clinics and urgent care centers. Seek care at a retail location for an uncomplicated illness, such as a sore throat. Visit an urgent location for more pressing illnesses or injuries requiring services, such as splinting, casting, or wound treatment.

To find a participating urgent care clinic or provider, use the VA Facility Locator.

Bring a valid, government-issued photo ID to the in-network urgent care location/pharmacy. When you arrive, verify the provider is part of VA’s contracted network, complete the intake form, and tell the provider you would like to use your VA urgent care benefit.

The provider will check your eligibility. If the provider is in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VI, VT, WI, or WV (also referred to as Regions 1,2, and 3), they will call to confirm you are eligible. In AK, AS, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, MP, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA, or WY (also referred to as Regions 4,5, and 6), the provider will call 833-4VETNOW ).

If you arrive at an urgent care located in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VI, VT, WI, or WV (also referred to as Regions 1, 2, and 3), and have issues, you can call for assistance.

If you arrive at an urgent care located in AK, AS, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, MP, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA, or WY (also referred to as Regions 4, 5, and 6), and have issues, you can call for assistance.

No. You do not have to pay anything at the time of the visit. If you owe a copayment, VA will send you a bill. Copayments are $30, but your liability will depend on your assigned priority group and the number of times you have used your urgent care benefit in a calendar year. Learn more about urgent care copayments. 

Veterans may be charged a copayment for urgent care that is different from other VA medical copayments.

Copayments depend on the Veteran’s assigned priority group and the number of times an urgent care provider is visited in a calendar year.

Copayment charges are billed separately by VA as part of VA’s billing process. There is no limit to the number of times a Veteran can go to an urgent care provider.

Learn more about Veteran Copayments

VA will pay for or fill prescriptions for urgent care. For routine prescription medication longer than a 14-day supply, the prescription must be submitted to VA to be filled. Before filling the prescription, VA will verify the urgent care visit.

If there are issues filling your prescription in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VI, VT, WI or WV, call for assistance. In AK, AS, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, MP, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA or WY, call .

No. Urgent care is not a replacement for services your primary care provider (PCP) offers. Use urgent care for treating minor, non-emergent illnesses and injuries. The urgent care benefit does not cover preventive health care offered by your primary care physician. Always consider talking with or seeing your PCP if you are concerned that the urgent care provider will not understand the complexities of your medical history or medications.