About us
At the Miami VA Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families every day.
About the Miami VA Healthcare System
The Miami VA 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 south Florida. Facilities include our Bruce W. Carter VA Medical Center in Miami and 8 community-based outpatient clinics in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, Homestead, Key Largo, Key West, Miami, Pembroke Pines, and Sunrise. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Miami health services page.
The Miami VA Healthcare System also includes an AIDS/HIV center, a prosthetic treatment center, a spinal cord injury rehabilitative center, and a Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center. VA Miami health care is recognized as a center of excellence in spinal cord injury research and substance abuse treatment and is a recognized chest pain center. In addition to serving south Florida, VA Miami health care is the tertiary referral facility for the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center and provides open-heart surgery and other specialty services to VA facilities in Florida and nationwide.
The VA Miami 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 Bruce W. Carter 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.
We have about 95 active principal investigators and support another 170 non-investigator personnel, including VA and non-VA employees. Our investigators have worked on more than 200 active research projects and generated about 200 publications and presentations. Most of our principal investigators also hold faculty appointments at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. VA Miami health care is also recognized as a center of excellence in spinal cord injury research.
Major research areas include:
- Aging issues
- Amputee rehabilitation and biomechanics
- Arthritis
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Diabetes
- Endocrinology
- Epilepsy
- HIV/AIDS
- Hypertension
- Mental health
- Neuroscience
- Oncology
- Persian Gulf illness
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Renal (kidney) disorders
For further information about the Miami VA's research program, visit the South Florida Foundation for Research & Education website.
Teaching and learning
Our Bruce W. Carter 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.
Our primary affiliation is with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. We’re also affiliated with Barry University, Nova Southeastern University, Miami-Dade College, Florida International University, and many other universities, colleges, and professional schools.
We train more than 150 residents every year in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. Our training programs include residencies in:
- Internal medicine
- Pathology
- Dermatology
- Neurosurgery
- Nephrology
- Radiology
- Cardiovascular
- Gynecology
- General dentistry
- Oral surgery
- Pulmonary and critical care
- Orthopedics
- Anesthesiology
- Podiatry
- Urology
- General surgery
- Gastroenterology
- Geriatric medicine
- Infectious diseases
- Rheumatology
- Hematology
- Ophthalmology
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Otolaryngology
- Endocrinology
- Plastic surgery
- Spinal cord injury medicine
We also provide associated health training in nursing, audiology and speech pathology, pharmacy, social work, nutrition and food service, and physical and occupational therapy.
We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.
Fast facts
- VA Miami Healthcare System provides primary and specialty health care services to about 63,000 Veterans in 3 south Florida counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe.
- The Bruce W. Carter VA Medical Center opened in 1968 on 26.3 acres in downtown Miami.
- Our medical center was named in honor of Marine Corps Pfc. Bruce W. Carter, a U.S. Marine from Miami. He was killed in action during the Vietnam War when he sacrificed his life by throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of other Marines in his unit. After his death, Carter received the Medal of Honor for his heroism.
- Our medical center has 367 operating beds.
Accreditations and Achievements
Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:
- The Joint Commission
- Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
- American College of Radiology
- College of American Pathologists
- Primary Stroke Center-AHCA/State Certified
- American Heart Association/Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) Program
- Epilepsy Center of Excellence
- Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence
- Long-Term Care Institute
The VA Miami Healthcare System has received the following awards:
- Silver & Gold Plus Award for Excellence in Stroke Care by America
Service Chiefs and Organizational Leaders
- Director Organizational Chart
- Associate Director Organizational Chart
- Assistant Director Organizational Chart
- ADPCS Organizational Chart
Annual reports and newsletters
Annual reports
Newsletters
Veterans Health Matters Magazine