About us

About VA Sioux Falls Healthcare System 

The VA Sioux Falls 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 6 locations that serve Veterans from eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. Facilities include our Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital (also known as the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center) and 5 community-based outpatient clinics in Aberdeen, Sioux City, Wagner, and Watertown, South Dakota; and Spirit Lake, Iowa. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Sioux Falls health services page.

The VA Sioux Falls Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Midwest VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 (VISN 23), which includes medical centers and clinics in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Learn more about VISN 23

Research and development

At the VA Sioux Falls 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.

Major research areas include:

• Drug and alcohol addiction
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Depression and cognition in the elderly
• DNA damage due to sunlight
• Physical therapy for acute and chronic pain
• Telehealth treatments in underserved areas
• Auditory issues in blast exposure
• Pre-diabetes treatments
• Pain management
• Antimicrobial stewardship

We also participate in ongoing national and regional research projects, like:

Million Veteran Program – Promotes genomic (human gene) and health discoveries and maintains the world’s largest DNA database.

Teaching and learning

Our Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research.  Our residents receive training in many medical specialties and subspecialties, including internal medicine, psychiatry, and pathology, plus a fellowship in geriatrics. We also have a pharmacy residency and offer associated training in other health care professions.

The VA Sioux Falls Healthcare System is affiliated with 30 universities and colleges in the region, including The Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, Augustana University, and the University of Sioux Falls to provide training for a variety of clinical and allied health specialists. We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Fast facts

• The Sioux Falls VA Healthcare System has more than 1,000 employees and 550 volunteers.
• The Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital, located on a beautiful 40-acre campus in the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota,  includes a 98-bed state-of-the-art medical center.
• Our medical center is named for South Dakota Congressman Royal C. Johnson, a highly decorated Veteran of World War I, who worked diligently to consolidate Veterans’ benefits into what eventually became the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• The Dakotas Regional Office of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), first established here in 1921, is co-located with the medical center and provides more than $90 million a year in disability and pension benefits to South Dakota Veterans.

Accreditation 

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

• The Joint Commission
• American Psychological Association
• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
• Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs
• Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC International)

The VA Sioux Falls Healthcare System has received the following awards:

• Partner for Change Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to environmental sustainability in health care
• Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. 

Annual reports and newsletters

Annual reports

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Newsletters

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