Reader TTS

ABOUT THE VA PUGET SOUND HEALTH CARE SYSTEM VA Puget Sound Health Care System provides Veterans with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts

important medical research. HEALTH CARE AND SERVICES We provide health care services to roughly 160,000 Veterans who are enrolled across Western Washington, serving a 14-county area around

Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest. Facilities include  American Lake and Seattle main campuses, six outpatient clinics (Everett, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Port Angeles, Puyallup and

Silverdale), a Community Resource & Referral Center (Georgetown neighborhood in Seattle) and a Homeless Primary Care Team in Renton. We also have a Mobile Medical Unit to support rural

care needs. We expand our care reach beyond Western Washington to as far south as Mississippi through our Centers of Excellence and regional hubs. VA Puget Sound also has nine nationally

recognized centers of excellence (in areas from limb-loss prevention and prosthetic engineering to primary care education and substance abuse treatment) as well as five regional care hubs

(Blind Rehabilitation Center, Regional Spinal Cord Injury Unit, Regional Amputation Center, Marrow Transplant and Lung Transplant Unit, and Polytrauma Network Site) which expand our services

across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Puget Sound health services page. VA Puget Sound has a reputation for

excellence, innovation and extraordinary care for Veterans--our nation’s heroes. We strive to lead the nation in quality, efficiency and public service through our proven record of

innovation and extraordinary care of Veterans. VA Puget Sound is one of the leading health care systems  in the VA Integrated Services Network (VISN 20) serving the northwest.  RESEARCH AND

DEVELOPMENT At VA Puget Sound's Seattle and American Lake campuses, 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.  VA Puget Sound maintains the VA’s fourth-largest research and development program, reflecting our commitment to provide the highest-quality care to Veterans. Our

patients have access to the latest pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic techniques. The quality of “routine” care is enriched by the personal commitment of staff to increase their

professional capabilities and to actively contribute to the advancement of their fields. Major research areas include:  * Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple blast exposures * Memory

improvement and Alzheimer’s disease * Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and deployment health * Parkinson’s disease * Diabetes * Cancer * Substance abuse * Lower limb prosthetics *

Genomics * Health services Visit our list of centers of excellence and special emphasis programs TEACHING AND LEARNING VA Puget Sound takes pride in our 70-year history of positive

advancements and cutting-edge academic partnership and achievements that continue to improve health outcomes for the Veterans we care for. Our academic collaborations build on our passion to

learn and power to heal. In academic year 2021, VA Puget Sound trained over 1,900 health care professionals—from physicians, dentists and nurses to psychologists and social workers to

highlight a few. Through its more than 130 active associated health, graduate medical and dental education and, nursing undergraduate, graduate, and research affiliations in Pacific

Northwest and beyond, VA Puget Sound offers innovation and progressive training. And its collaborations with the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Institute for

Biomedical and Clinical Research are integral to ongoing discoveries. VA Puget Sound began partnering with the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1951, primarily in the fields of

medical, dental, nursing, mental health and social work. These future professionals are the nation’s health care workforce pipeline who will go on to care for Veterans and other patients in

urban and rural communities across the U.S.   During the pandemic, VA facilities such as VA Puget Sound worked with medical schools, universities, and colleges across the country to utilize

health professions trainees to care for Veterans virtually and in-person while completing their training requirements.  VA Puget Sound continues to advance health professions training by

adding new rotations here with Madigan Army Medical Center and securing a new residency in Neurologic Physical Therapy.  The number of physician residents training across the VA increased by

more than 2,000 and, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, applications to medical schools have increased by 18 percent for the 2021 academic year. Professional

training in most major medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties is available, including residencies in: * Audiology * Speech pathology * Dietetics * Health services research and

development * Radiology * Optometry * Podiatry * Occupational therapy * Physical therapy * Recreation therapy * Psychology * Health information management * Information technology * Medical

informatics * Dentistry FAST FACTS * Each year, VA Puget Sound supports approximately 1.1 million outpatient visits, admits 5,000 inpatients, performs 4,600 surgeries and conducts 245,000

virtual care visits. * VA Puget Sound’s Women’s Health Program remains the largest in VISN 20 (the VA’s Northwest Network), with over 18,000 women Veterans (and growing!) enrolled for care.

* VA Puget Sound maintains relationships with Veteran Service Organization (VSO) partners and brief VSO representatives on changes that affect Veterans’ care. Our Veterans Advisory Council

meets quarterly and includes stakeholders from Veterans’ groups. * VA Puget Sound's Fisher House (Seattle campus) provides a cost-free “Home Away from Home” for Veterans, active-duty

service members, their families and caregivers, while they are hospitalized or receiving care.  Guests have come from 48 states around the nation, and 14 countries around the globe. * VA

Puget Sound launched VA Ventures June 2020 to develop innovative ideas and diffuse them nationally to provide superior care and the best health outcomes to our Veterans. VA Ventures'

major focus areas are: (1) Health care product development using advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D and bioprinting; and (2) Leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning

and immersive technologies as digital solutions to health care challenges. * VA Puget Sound provides inpatient blind rehabilitation for Veterans and active-duty service members with visual

impairments from VA’s Northwest Network (VISN 20) and Montana. ACCREDITATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Underscoring its commitment to safe, quality care, VA Puget Sound accreditation, includes:

PATIENT GUIDE, ANNUAL REPORTS AND NEWSLETTERS PATIENT GUIDE