About us
At the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families.
About VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
The VA Pacific Islands 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 12 locations in Hawaii and other Pacific islands. Facilities include our Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center in Honolulu and community-based outpatient clinics on Oahu, Hawaii (Hilo and Kailua-Kona), Maui, Kauai, American Samoa, and Guam. Traveling clinicians also provide episodic care on Lanai and mental health care at various locations, and an internist living on Molokai provides medical care 3 days a week at the Molokai Rural Health Center. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Pacific Islands health services page.
The VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Sierra Pacific VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 21 (VISN 21), which includes medical centers and clinics in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands.
Research and development
The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System has an active Human Research Protection Program that operates in compliance with all federal regulations, applicable state laws, and VA requirements. 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.
Research studies are important because they can help provide:
- An organized, methodical way to learn more about a specific health issue
- Answers about whether a treatment is effective
- A better understanding of which health care services are effective and efficient
- Opportunities to test whether a drug or piece of equipment is safe and effective
- Answers to questions about the best way to treat or prevent an illness
Major research areas include:
Teaching and learning
Spark M. Matsunaga 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. VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System has active affiliations with the University of Hawaii, Hawaii – Pacific University, Kapi’olani Community College, Leeward Community College, Kaua’i Community College, and several universities and professional schools throughout the continental United States.
We train more than 250 students, interns, residents, and fellows each year in many disciplines, including chaplaincy, dentistry, geriatrics, internal medicine, laboratory technology, medical assisting, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, psychiatry, psychology, and social work. We also offer internships and post-doctoral fellowships in psychology through training programs at VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System and at the Pacific Islands Division of the National Center for PTSD.
We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.
Fast facts
- We provide health care services for an estimated 50,000 Veterans throughout Hawaii and other Pacific islands, including Guam and American Samoa.
- In 2019, we had 1,191 full-time employees.
- Every year, we serve more than 36,000 Veterans and complete more than 336,000 outpatient visits.
- More than 13% of our Veterans received some form of telehealth services in 2019, a 168% increase over 2018.
- We provide home-based primary care to Veterans living on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii (Hilo and Kona), Kauai (Lihue), Maui, and Guam.
- We offer long-term and transitional rehabilitative care at the 60-bed VA Center for Aging, located on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center.
- A 20-bed VA-staffed-and-operated ward at Tripler Army Medical Center provides inpatient psychiatric care and partial hospitalization.
- In December 2005, we moved our PTSD residential rehabilitation program from Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, to a VA ward at Tripler Army Medical Center on Oahu.
Accreditations and achievements
Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:
- The Joint Commission
- American Psychological Association
The VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System received the following awards:
Annual reports and newsletters
Annual reports
Newsletters