Health services

We provide emergency medical care 24 hours a day, every day. Our emergency room staff can help you with:

• Life-threatening illnesses and injuries that require immediate attention
• Urgent medical issues that must be treated right away
• Psychiatric evaluations

Our gynecologists focus on the female reproductive system and provide services that include:

• Mammograms for breast cancer, screenings for sexually transmitted disease, and Pap tests for cervical cancer
• Counseling and treatment for contraception, pregnancy, and infertility
• Osteoporosis screening for brittle bones
• Exams for abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain, or various cancers
• Primary care checkups

Our pharmacy provides you and other Veterans with convenient, efficient service to make it easy to get your medications and medical supplies. You can:

• Pick up new prescriptions in person
• Refill prescriptions online and by phone or mail
• Safely dispose of medicines

Learn more about our pharmacy

Your VA primary care provider will work closely with you to plan for all the care you need to stay healthy and well throughout your life, including immunizations and vaccinations. They will also work with family members or caregivers who support you.

A strong network of family and internal medicine specialists and services can offer you the best possible care. Internal medicine doctors (internists) prevent, diagnose, and treat adult diseases. Doctors who specialize in family medicine provide primary health care to the entire family. Your primary care team can coordinate the many services you receive such as:

• Labs and blood work
• Mental health care
• Women's health care
• Radiology
• Social services
• Telehealth

We offer women’s health services to meet your specific needs such as disease screenings, mental health treatment, recovery from military sexual trauma, maternity care and female-specific medical equipment.

Our women's health program offers complete health care for women Veterans of all ages. Our primary care providers specialize in women’s health. They work closely with specialists in gynecology, obstetrics, female urology, oncology, medicine, radiology, surgery, and breast illness. Our services for women Veterans include:

• Ultrasounds, mammograms, Pap and HPV tests
• Mental health care and counseling
• Lifestyle wellness services
• Menopause treatment, including hormonal therapy
• Family planning, contraceptive care, and infertility evaluation

Learn more and connect with a Women Veterans Program Manager

VA provides treatment for substance use disorders across the continuum of care, including outpatient services in our Mental Health Clinics, and Two specialty programs are dedicated to serving Veterans recovering from addiction.

• Opioid Addiction Treatment Program (OATP) – Located at John Cochran
  • Provides specialized treatment services for opioid addiction.
• Substance Abuse Rehabilitation and Recovery Treatment Program (SARRTP)- Located at Jefferson Barracks
  • Residential and outpatient intensive care for Veterans recovering from substance use disorders.  Program length is approx. 3 weeks for the residential program and 4 weeks for Intensive Outpatient Program.

Learn more about our VA treatment programs

Our medical center and clinics provide consultation, evaluation, and treatment for a range of issues that may impact your mental health or emotional well-being. Our confidential outpatient services include individual and group therapy for:

• Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression
• Marriage and relationship problems
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Anxiety, addictive behaviors, and personality disorders
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

We offer care for military sexual trauma in our mental (behavioral) health clinics. Military sexual trauma refers to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other threatening, offensive, or unwanted sexual advances, activities, or remarks that you experienced in the military. Our goal is to help you improve your quality of life with strategies to manage emotions and memories related to your military sexual trauma. Our services include:

• Counseling
• Psychiatric care
• Walk-in care

Learn more about military sexual trauma

If you have symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event, we can help. We offer assessment and treatment support such as private counseling, group therapy and medication. It’s never too late to get help.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. This is a specialized multidisciplinary clinic that provides services for Veterans recovering from PTSD. Services are focused, evidence-based practices for PTSD.

We can help you with effective treatments and support services, like:

• Psychiatric and psychological counseling
• Services for Veterans who are homeless
• Treatment for addictive disorders
• Transition and care management for post-9/11 combat Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND)

Learn more about PTSD

If you’re struggling with a mental health problem—or just need to talk with someone—we can help. We offer treatment and support such as therapy, alternative treatments and medications when needed.

Our psychology teams offer consultation, evaluation, and treatment to help with a range of mental and behavioral health problems like:

• Depression (including sadness and grief), anxiety (including worry and nervousness), and personality disorders
• Addictive behaviors and substance abuse
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and combat-related stress disorder
• Emotional issues like anger management and relationship challenges
• Confused thinking, memory problems, and invasive thoughts or ideas
• Aggressive or self-harming behaviors

The VA’s highest clinical priority is Veteran suicide prevention. Everyone has a role to play in keeping  Veterans healthy and safe. The VA St. Louis Health Care System takes a public health approach to suicide prevention, and the local Suicide Prevention Program provides education and outreach to community partners, in addition to direct clinical care in collaboration with a veteran’s established treatment team. Suicide is preventable, and there is hope.  We are here to serve you. Don’t wait. Reach out.  www.va.gov/REACH.

We offer:

• Suicide prevention care coordinators
• Suicide prevention case managers
• Gun safety locks

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

Our Audiology and Speech Pathology clinic provides diagnostic and rehabilitative services, VA compensation and pension examinations, and screening for employee hearing conservation. We offer a full range of audiology and speech pathology services like:

• Hearing and balance evaluations
• Selection, management, and repair of hearing aids and assistive listening device assessments
• Evaluation, programming, and management of cochlear implants and bone-anchored implants
• Services that help with speech, language, fluency, voice, cognitive communication, swallowing, stuttering, and laryngectomy (surgical removal of the larynx, which contains your vocal cords)

Learn more about VA hearing aids

Our low vision outpatient clinic can assess your needs and provide a rehab plan tailored to your personal goals. Our team of specialists and social workers will work with you to find the right aids and services. Our clinic services include:

• Comprehensive eye exams
• Visual skills assessments
• Guidance on how to develop visual motor and perceptual skills
• Training to help you manage daily activities with your vision loss

• COVID-19 vaccines for eligible Veterans and staff

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines at VA

Acute (short-term) or chronic (long-lasting) pain can make it hard to enjoy life, but effective non-pharmacological conservative treatment as a first-line approach can help. Our experts work with you, your primary care physician and specialists to create a plan to help you find ways to manage your pain conditions and improve your quality of life through the Whole Health Transformation.  

Chiropractic care restores improves, and maintains your function, activity, and health. We work with your primary care doctor and other specialty care providers to provide a complete health care plan for you. We offer many treatments, like:

• Spinal manipulative therapy to relieve pressure on your joints, reduce inflammation, and improve nerve function
• Electrical stimulation therapy, which reduces pain by sending mild electrical pulses through your skin to help stimulate injured muscles or manipulate nerves
• Soft-tissue mobilization, which uses gentle pressure or massage to relax tense muscles, reduce scar tissue, or stretch connective tissue

We provide care for many medical and surgical skin conditions. Our dermatology services include:

• Medically necessary treatments for skin conditions like skin cancer and rashes
• Specialized treatments for acute (short-term) and chronic (long-lasting) skin conditions, like psoriasis, eczema, warts, and fungal illnesses
• Evaluation, biopsy, and treatment of cancerous or pre-cancerous skin conditions, like abnormal moles and lesions.
• Referrals for complex conditions
• Teledermatology (a telehealth resource), which gives patients quick access to expert opinions

Our laboratories provide a full range of clinical and diagnostic testing services. Our laboratory and pathology services include:

• Study of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids for illness management
• Testing for infectious diseases
• Cytopathology (study of unusual cells) and surgical pathology (study of tissue removed during surgery)
• Autopsy services

MOVE! is a weight-management program designed to help you live a longer, healthier life. With the help of your MOVE! care team, you can eat a healthier diet, get more exercise, reduce your health risks, and improve your quality of life. The MOVE! program offers:

• Weight-loss support groups to help you lose weight and keep it off
• Healthy eating tips and cooking classes
• Behavioral change strategies to help you live a healthier lifestyle

Learn more about MOVE!

Our registered dietitians can help you maintain or improve your health with good nutrition tailored to your needs. Through group, individual, and telehealth sessions, we provide nutrition education and counseling in areas such as:

• Cardiovascular and heart health
• Chronic kidney disease
• Diabetes (including gestational diabetes)
• Eating disorders and digestive health
• Pregnancy and postpartum nutrition
• Weight management

Acute (short-term) or chronic (long-lasting) pain can make it hard to enjoy life, but effective pain management can help. Our experts work with you, your primary care physician, and other specialists to create a plan to help you manage your pain and improve your quality of life. Our services include:

• Chiropractic care to relieve pain without medication
• Prescribing and supervising your use of medications
• Teaching you skills that include meditation, mindfulness training, relaxation, yoga, and tai chi to help you manage your pain
• Providing physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, and other compatible therapies

Our palliative and hospice care services support you and your family as you cope with a life-threatening or terminal illness. Palliative care works to provide comfort, reduce suffering, and improve the quality of life for patients being treated for serious illnesses. Hospice care focuses on helping patients with terminal illnesses to manage the final stages of their lives. Our palliative and hospice care services include:

• Pain and symptom management
• Emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial support for you and your family
• Help with practical issues that include an advance directive (living will), health care power of attorney, funeral arrangements, and applying for VA death and burial benefits
• Education to help you and your family make informed health care decisions and know what to expect as your health declines
• Bereavement care to help surviving family members during the grieving process

Our specialized rehabilitation program network serves severely injured Veterans and service members who have multiple combat- or civilian-related traumatic injuries. We offer:

• Physical, visual, and cognitive rehabilitation
• State-of-the-art prosthetics
• Psychological and psychosocial services
• Ongoing case management services

We provide and help you use medical aids, hearing aids, state-of-the-art adaptive home equipment and other equipment to help you preserve and increase your mobility and independence.

VA is the world’s largest and most comprehensive provider of sensory aides and prosthetic devices. Veterans enrolled in the VA health care system and referred by a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician can receive a full range of services and equipment like:

• Artificial limbs and surgical implants, including artificial joints and pacemakers
• Wheelchairs and other medical devices
• Aids for Veterans who are blind, have low vision, or are hearing impaired
• Adaptive equipment and modifications to make your vehicle or home more accessible
• Other devices and services to help increase your mobility, dignity, and independence
• Clothing allowance for Veterans with devices that damage their clothing

We offer radiology and imaging services to diagnose and treat many medical conditions. Our services include:

• X-ray
• Ultrasound
• Mammography (mammograms)
• Computer tomography (CT)
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

We provide long-term care to help you and your family when you’re dealing with a disability, chronic (long-lasting) illness, terminal illness, or serious health issues related to aging. Our long-term health care services include:

• 24/7 nursing and medical care
• Physical therapy
• Help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, making meals, and taking medicine
• Pain management and palliative care to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for people with serious illnesses
• Hospice care to provide comfort and compassionate care for people in the last phases of an incurable illness
• To learn more about the different types of extended care that VA provides, see our guide to long-term services and support.

Learn more about VA long-term care

If you have a spinal cord injury or disorder, our specialists provide coordinated care throughout your life. We work to help you achieve your goals for independence, productivity and quality of life.

The VA Saint Louis Health Care System (VASTLHCS) Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI/D) Center has well-established programs dedicated to providing acute rehabilitation and chronic lifelong comprehensive care to Veterans with SCI/D.  The SCI/D Rehabilitation Center consists of a rehabilitation unit at Jefferson Barracks and an acute-care ward at the John Cochran Division. The Saint Louis SCI/D Center serves as a VA SCI specialty referral hub for the Midwest region. The VASTLHCS has affiliations with Washington University in Saint Louis and St. Louis University.

The mission of the SCI/D Rehabilitation Center is to provide outstanding, quality, holistic care to individuals with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) to restore and maintain the highest level of independence and function and provide opportunities to enhance the quality of life.

The SCI/D Rehabilitation Center provides services to individuals 18 years and older who are veterans/active-duty personnel on a lifelong basis with an intense focus on the achievement of the following outcomes:

• Maximizing rehabilitation potential; and community engagement
• Management of chronic pain, spasms, and/or spasticity.
• Management of neurogenic bladder and bowel; and
• Management of sexual and fertility dysfunction.

The SCI/D Rehabilitation Center provides comprehensive integrated inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, as well as sustaining care inpatient services to treat secondary complications from SCI/D. 

The scope of services includes persons who:

• Recently sustained an SCI and requires comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation.
• Have had SCI in the past but have not had the opportunity to undergo rehabilitation.
• Have non-traumatic SCI, such as paraplegia or tetraplegia due to multiple sclerosis or other non-progressive myelopathy who may benefit from rehabilitation.
• Have been previously discharged from the SCI/D Service and have subsequently developed a complication.
• Have had a decline in functional independence and require comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation.
• Have the desire to maximize their rehabilitation status via participation in comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation.
• Are due for an annual evaluation and choose to be admitted for an intensive interdisciplinary evaluation.
• Have a short-term admission (as necessitated by socio-economic/geographic factors and depending on bed availability) for completion of driver’s training; and
• May be admitted for short durations on an annual basis for respite care to decrease caregiver burden.

Learn more about the VA spinal cord injuries and disorders care system

If you are having surgery, we make sure that your procedure and follow-up care are safe and high-quality.

We provide a wide range of surgical services, like:

• Anesthesia
• Cardiothoracic Surgery (heart and major blood vessels)
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery (brain, spinal column, and nerves)
• Ophthalmologic Surgery
• Optometry
• Orthopedic Surgery (bones, muscles, ligaments, joints, and tendons)
• Otolaryngology (ENT Surgery)
• Plastic Surgery
• Podiatry (Non-Surgical)
• Surgical Critical Care
• Urologic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery

If you’re a caregiver for a Veteran, you can get support by contacting one of our caregiver support coordinators. If the Veteran you care for was injured post-9/11, you may be eligible for even more services, including a stipend to help with expenses, training, and medical coverage if you aren’t already covered. For all caregivers, we can:

• Help you get caregiver assistance available through VA
• Provide progressive needs planning to help you manage degenerative conditions
• Match you with services and benefits
• Connect you with local resources and programs
• Listen to you when you struggle

Learn more and connect with a support coordinator

We help Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless due to financial hardship, unemployment, addiction, depression, or transition from jail. Contact one of our care coordinators to get help with:

• Immediate food and shelter needs, including both transitional and permanent housing
• Job training, life skills development, and education
• Justice system navigation and community reentry from jail
• Financial support to prevent homelessness
• Addiction and depression treatment
• Health and dental care

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

We promote the health, welfare, and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) Veterans and their families. We focus on ensuring a safe, welcoming, and affirmative environment when providing you with sensitive and high-quality health care services like:

• Hormone therapy
• Substance use and alcohol treatment
• Testing and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI)
• Mental health care
• Psychosocial assessments for gender-confirming surgeries and hormone therapy

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

If you’re a minority Veteran, we can help you get the services and benefits you need. Our Minority Veterans Program serves all Veterans who are Black American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Island Americans). We work to:

• Help the medical center address minority Veterans’ needs
• Meet minority Veterans’ needs in the local community
• Identify barriers and create a more accessible environment for minority Veterans
• Inform minority Veterans of VA benefits, services, and programs

Learn more and connect with a care coordinator

Our patient advocates work hard to make sure you receive the best possible care at our health care facilities. They can:

• Help you get answers or address concerns with your care team
• Advocate for patient and family rights
• Serve as advocates for minority Veterans, women Veterans, and Veterans with disabilities
• Offer specialized help to former prisoners of war and Veterans transitioning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND)

Learn more and connect with a patient advocate

We offer a wide range of activities (arts and crafts, games, sports, exercise) that we can adapt to your needs.

Our therapies promote your independence and enhance your health and well-being if you’re a Veteran with an injury, chronic (long-lasting) illness, or disabling condition. After your primary health care provider gives you a referral, a recreation therapist will develop treatment goals for you.

• Recreation and creative arts therapy provides services and activities that include:
• Animal interaction
• Music, art, and crafts
• Community outings
• Exercise, sports, and games
• Gardening and leisure education

If you’re returning from military service, we can help you readjust to civilian life and get started with VA health care. We can also help connect you with programs like mental health services and education and career counseling.

We can help you readjust to civilian life if you’re returning from military service, on active duty, or an activated National Guard or Reserve member. Talk to one of our care coordinators about how to best use your health care benefits.

• Polytrauma care (if you have multiple traumatic injuries)
• Counseling and rehabilitation
• Mental and behavioral health services
• Family benefits counseling and assistance
• Referral assistance

Learn more and connect with a coordinator

Social work is integral to health care. We can help you and your family manage stress-related problems due to injury or illness, and find VA community resources to meet your needs like:

• Home health services
• Legal services
• Transportation
• Community living

We use the latest in secure digital technology to set up remote visits with our health care providers. We offer video conferencing, home telehealth services, and store-and-forward telehealth that lets you securely send your health information to experts at VA facilities. We offer telehealth visits with providers in:

• Mental health
• Retinal care (eye)
• Bariatric surgery (visit remotely with your weight-loss surgery team before and after your operation)
• Dermatology
• Rehabilitation
• Primary care

Learn more about telehealth

We help Veterans with physical and mental health challenges find and keep jobs. We help you find jobs through our long-term partnerships with business, industry, and government agencies. We offer 3 services:

• Our transitional work program matches Veteran’s skills with a specific job and provides supervision to help them gain work experience
• Our supported employment program provides long-term support for Veterans with serious mental illnesses or physical disabilities to help them compete for jobs in their communities
• Our vocational assistance program trains Veterans living at our residential facility to improve their job-search and career development skills

Learn more about VA vocational rehabilitation

Whole Health involves health partners and coaches to guide you in discovering your mission, aspiration, and purpose (MAP) in life. Your health coach will work with you to create a Personal Health Plan to support your MAP and help you reach your goals. Whole Health also supports you with well-being services and classes to optimize your overall health and well-being, and may also include Complimentary and Integrative Health services as determined by your VA healthcare team.

• Health Coaching
• Meditation and Mindfulness Training
• Biofeedback
• Acupuncture
• Yoga and Tai Chi
• Functional Nutrition
• Acupuncture
• Massage Therapy