Womens’ Health Care at VA – Always Evolving

One of the goals of this blog is to continue to broadcast the realities of our modern VA health care system, telling stories and providing glimpses in to what VA looks like today, and how it will continue to evolve moving forward.

This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs published a fact sheet on Women Veterans Health Care. Since 2000, the number of female Veterans using VA health care has more than doubled, from nearly 160,000 in 2000 to more than 390,000 in 2013, a rate of growth that has outpaced that of the male Veteran population. This rapid increase has created a need for VA to expand certain health services and amend others. And while female Veterans are entitled all of the same benefits as male Veterans, they also require unique, gender-specific services, including gynecology and maternity care services.

VA wants to ensure women Veterans receive comprehensive care from a proficient women’s health provider, no matter where a woman Veteran accesses care. With this in mind, VA has multiple models for delivering women’s health primary care—from services focused in a VA facility, to separate women’s health centers. Many sites use more than one model to meet the needs of their population of women Veterans. The ultimate goal is for each VA facility to develop its own “right fit” for providing comprehensive primary care to women Veterans.

On the employee side, VA is recruiting and training providers who are interested and proficient in women’s health. Nearly 2,000 providers have been educated in women’s health care through a flagship education model. Health providers and staff also have access to a monthly webinar series and over 50 on demand courses in women’s health issues.

If you’re a health provider who wants to contribute to the evolving climate of Veteran care, learn more and join our team at VAcareers.va.gov.