About us

About VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System 

The VA Greater Los Angeles 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 11 locations in a 5-county area of southern California. Facilities include our West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and our Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center. We also have 9 community-based outpatient clinics in Arcadia, Bakersfield, Commerce, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Greater Los Angeles health services page.

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Desert Pacific Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 22 (VISN 22). VISN 22 includes medical centers and clinics in Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico. 

Learn more about VISN 22

Research and development

At the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 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.

We have one of the largest research programs in the VA. We host 6 research centers of excellence: 

• Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center
• Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy
• Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center
• Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center
• Cancer Center Research
• VA Emergency Management Research Center

Learn more about our research program

Teaching and learning

Our West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and Sepulveda VA Medical Center are teaching hospitals that provide a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We provide professional training in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. 

Our primary affiliations are with the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the USC School of Medicine. We also have affiliations with more than 45 colleges, universities, and vocational schools that provide training in 17 allied health fields like nursing, paramedical, and administrative programs.

Each year we train more than 500 university residents, interns, and students. We sponsor 16 medical residencies and associated health residencies and internships in fields like dentistry, podiatry, optometry, pharmacy, clinical psychology, social work, and dietetics.

We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Learn more about our internships and fellowships

VA West Los Angeles Campus Master Plan

Master Plan 2022 (MP) is the framework for transforming the 388-acre West LA VA Medical Center into a community and home for Veterans with at least 1,200 units of permanent supportive housing tailored to meet the needs of vulnerable Veterans, including those who are severely disabled, experiencing chronic homelessness, aging Veterans with disabilities, and female Veterans with dependents. The MP, approved in April 2022 by Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough following an extensive public process, builds upon the Draft Master Plan of 2016 and includes expanding healthcare access and support services for Veterans through modernizing and reorganizing uses and functions of the West LA VA Medical Center. All land uses are designed to principally benefit Veterans and their families.

Visit the VA West Los Angeles Campus Master Plan page for more information.

Fast facts

• The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System serves the health care needs of more than 84,000 Veterans.
• Each year we complete more than 1.3 million outpatient visits and more than 8,000 inpatient visits.
• Our hospitals and ambulatory centers have 716 total operational beds, including 296 domiciliary beds, 224 community living center beds, 82 surgical beds, 48 intensive care beds, 46 inpatient mental health bed, and 20 physical medicine and rehabilitation beds.
• We rely on volunteer service. In a given year, nearly 900 volunteers give over 170,000 hours of their time to serve our Veterans.

Accreditations 

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from the:

• Joint Commission
• Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
• Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association
• Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Council on Chiropractic Education