State of affairs of emergency medicine in the Veterans Health Administration

BackgroundThe Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has reformed its emergency medical services.ObjectivesThis study updates an overview of emergency medicine within VHA.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional survey of VHA medical facilities offering emergency medical care.ResultsSixty-eight percent (95/140) of facilities had emergency departments (EDs) only, 12% (16/140) had both ED and urgent care centers (UCCs), and 16% (23/140) had only UCCs. The mean (SD) ED/UCC census was 13 371 (7664). A mean (SD) of 53% (27%) of facility admissions were admitted through ED/UCCs. The median of all ED/UCC admissions admitted to intensive care unit level care was 11% (interquartile range, 7-16). Of physicians with any board certification, 16% (209/1331) of physicians had emergency medicine board certification.ConclusionsEmergency medical care is now available at most VHA facilities. The specialty of emergency medicine has an important but minority presence within clinical emergency medical care at VHA.