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Please go here for a message from Acting Director DeWayne Hamlin.
As the largest facility in the VA’s Northwest Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 20), VA Puget Sound continues to look for ways to expand its role as the tertiary care center for Veterans throughout the Alaska , Idaho , Oregon and Washington . In FY 2008, 68,102 Veterans came to VA Puget Sound for treatment and care, including 739,301 visits for outpatient care. VA Puget Sound continues to be a leader on many fronts including expansion of telemedicine clinics incardiology, dermatology, surgery and home spinal cord injury care. Inpatient medical care is provided to Veterans in the South Sound via a sharing agreement with Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis.
VA Puget Sound plays a major role in training the next generation of health care professionals. We train hundreds of medical residents and allied health professionals each year in audiology and speech pathology, dietetics, HRS&D, radiology, optometry, podiatry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, recreation therapy, psychology, health information management, information technology, medical informatics and other health care programs.
Some of the nation’s most prominent researchers reside at VA Puget Sound, one of the largest VA funded research programs in the country. Principal investigators represent virtually every major clinical department. A strong, diversified base of support maintains the competitive edge of VA Puget Sound as a leader in world-class research for such areas as hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, prosthetics and amputee care, rehabilitation, mental health, neuro-degenerative disorders, obesity, cancer, pulmonary diseases and other ailments.
The Seattle division of VA Puget Sound is also home to the Fisher House. VA Puget Sound Fisher House provides a "home away from home" for Veterans and their family members who live great distances from our facilities while the Veteran receives long-term care. Lodging at Fisher House is free for the families.
Health Care
Patient Safety
Geriatric Care
Research
Disabilities and Pensions
Homeless
National Cemetery Administration
Health Care: VA Puget Sound Health Care System’s mission is to proudly serve the veterans of the Pacific Northwest by delivering the highest quality health care and services supported by our education and research programs. VA Puget Sound provides care at its American Lake facility in Lakewood and Beacon Hill facility in Seattle, as well as four community based outpatient clinics (CBOC): VA-staffed CBOCs in Bremerton and Mount Vernon, three contract CBOCs in North Seattle, Federal Way and Bellevue. In Washington state, VA operates other major medical centers in Walla Walla and Spokane.
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Patient Safety: VA leads the nation in patient safety programs. VA’s emphasis on providing reliable, high-quality care has resulted in improvements that meet or exceed national standards. VA led the nation’s health-care systems by establishing Patient Safety Centers that monitor a wide range of professional programs to eliminate the problems that result in medical errors. For example, VA has pioneered a bar-code system for monitoring medication that cuts medical errors by two-thirds.
Clinical staff at VA Puget Sound have led the nation in developing specialized, award winning software for the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) that specifically addresses patient safety and offers clinicians the ability to chart patients electronically. The first of these enhancements is the clinical event monitor. This feature is activated with medication orders and patient movements (admissions, discharges, and transfers) as soon as new lab results become available. The monitor can detect dose errors for medications, track laboratory monitoring of medications, such as anticoagulants. It includes a notification system for clinicians and pharmacists. Over 4,000 medication orders each day are scrutinized by the monitor to detect errors in dosage or laboratory monitoring. A second patient safety enhancement within CPRS is a set of electronic alerts and reminders. Alerts draw attention to important information such as new orders and abnormal laboratory, imaging or other results, while the reminder system tells clinicians when they have unsigned orders or when a patient's medication is about to expire. Additional electronic advancements include the introduction of bar coding, which enables clinicians to read, enter and review prescription orders at the bedside through a wireless computerized database.
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Geriatric Care: Long-term care is a critical issue for America’s veterans. VA Puget Sound is responsive to the needs of the state’s rapidly aging Veteran population and leads the region in programs studying the genetic basis of aging and aging-related diseases. In conjunction with the University of Washington, VA Puget Sound manages the Alzheimer's disease research center. Under the umbrella of the Geriatric Research & Education Clinical Center (GRECC), national and international recognition has focused on the discovery of two of the genes known to cause Alzheimer’s disease and fronto-temporal lobe dementia. The center's research, training and clinical care programs emphasize aging, diet and memory loss, the cognitive and neuro-endocrine responses to estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women with Alzheimer's disease, advanced patient care directives and end of life decision making. The American Lake division is home to the Alzheimer’s disease nursing home unit.
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Research: To provide the highest quality of health care to the nation’s veterans, VA conducts a vast array of research on some of the most difficult challenges facing medical science today. Not only is VA a world leader in research areas such as aging, prosthetics, spinal-cord injury and blind rehabilitation, but VA has contributed greatly to women’s health care, diabetes, the treatment of AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, Gulf War illnesses and mental health issues. VA researchers led the way in developing the cardiac pacemaker, the CT scan, magnetic source imaging, and improving artificial limbs.
As an affiliated medical center of the University of Washington School of Medicine, VA Puget Sound has a robust and aggressive research program. Based on an academic medical model in which physicians care for patients, teach medical students and residents and engage in their own research, VA Puget Sound has a national and international track record of scientific discoveries that have benefited Veterans and the general population. Through a national competition, VA Puget Sound was awarded special program emphasis creating the Geriatrics Research & Education Clinical Center, Mental Illness Research and Education Center, the Epidemiologic Research and Information Center, the Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention, the Center for Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education, Health Services Research and Development and Epilepsy Center of Excellence. Additionally, the system has developed special programs in diabetes research and treatment, Alzheimer's research, a comprehensive cancer center and bone marrow transplantation program (in conjunction with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center), cardiac surgery, compensated work therapy, neuro-surgery, limb loss preservation amputation care and treatment, and a radiation therapy program that includes seed implants for prostate cancer.
Other current areas of research include cardiology, pulmonary medicine, cancer, dementia, substance abuse, mental health, rehabilitation and infectious disease and diabetes.
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Disabilities and Pensions: Not all of the problems of military service end when people are discharged from active duty. VA’s regional office in Seattle serves Washington veterans and their survivors who are seeking VA financial benefits. Because of the complexity of many cases, plus legal requirements and the need to obtain military records, the application process can take several months. Streamlining the process and reducing backlogs are two of VA’s highest priorities.
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Homeless: VA is the only federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to the homeless. It has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country. More than 7,000 transitional and permanent beds are available for homeless Veterans throughout the states. VA aggressively reaches out to veterans on the street, conducts clinical assessments, offers needed medical treatment, and provides long-term shelters and job training. Stand downs and benefit assistance fairs are held every year across the country. Visit the national VA homeless site for more information.As the largest and most complex medical center in the network, VA Puget Sound Health Care System reported the highest percentage of homeless Veterans in its acute mental health programs (35 percent). The Comprehensive Homeless Veterans Program provides extensive outreach, physical and psychiatric assessment, treatment and social service referrals including housing. Through collaborative partnerships with local government and community-based agencies, VA Puget Sound has been successful in treating homeless Veterans by expanding the continuum of care. The domiciliary for homeless veterans is a residential rehabilitation program for motivated, homeless veterans and provides VA- subsidized housing, health care for homeless veterans, compensated work therapy and job training. Veterans Supported Housing is a joint HUD and VA program that provides long term, affordable housing with case management to homeless Veterans with emotional or substance abuse problems. A comprehensive work therapy program assists in the continuing sobriety and abstinence of homeless Veterans by providing rehabilitative work training in the medical center and at locations throughout the Puget Sound Region.
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National Cemetery Administration: Most men and women who have been in the military are eligible for burial in a national cemetery, as are their dependent children and usually their spouses. VA manages the country’s network of national cemeteries with more than 2.3 million gravesites at 119 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, as well as in 33 soldier’s lots and monument sites.
Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent is currently the only national cemetery in Washington. Another national cemetery was recently announced for the Spokane region. Please visit the National Cemetery Administration Web site for more information.
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