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At the VA Northern California Healthcare System, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of you and your family every day.
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At the VA Northern California Healthcare System, we are dedicated to improving the lives of our Veterans and their families.
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About VA Northern California Healthcare System 

The VA Northern California Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research.

Health care and services

We provide you with health care services at 10 locations in northern California. Facilities include our Sacramento VA Medical Center, our Martinez VA Medical Center, and 8 community-based outpatient clinics in Auburn (Sierra Foothills), Chico, McClellan Park, Redding, Fairfield, Mare Island, Yreka, and Yuba City. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Northern California health services page.

The VA Northern California Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Sierra Pacific VA Health Care Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 21 (VISN 21), which includes medical centers and clinics in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands.

Learn more about VISN 21

Research and development

The VA Northern California Healthcare System operates research projects at the Sacramento VA Medical Center and the VA Martinez Outpatient Clinic’s Center for Rehabilitation and Extended Care.

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.  
 

Major research areas
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Hearing loss (audiology)
  • Cancer research, including DNA repair
  • Cognitive neuropsychology
  • Hormone-related disorders (endocrinology)
  • Aging (geriatrics)
  • Heart disease
  • Liver disease
  • Nervous system (neuroscience)
  • Stroke rehabilitation
  • Visual motor skills

Teaching and learning

Sacramento VA Medical Center is a general medicine and surgery teaching hospital that provides a full range of health services for Veterans, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. We offer residency training and fellowships in many major medical specialties and subspecialties.

We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Fast facts

Facts about VA Northern California Health Care System
  • VA Northern California Health Care System serves an area covering 17 counties and 30,000 square miles
  • We serve approximately 175,000 Veterans each year in 17 counties: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba
  • We saw 97,562 unique patients in 2019 and recorded 1.23 million outpatient visits
  • VA Northern California Healthcare System operates two administrative divisions: Sacramento Valley and East Bay
  • We had 4,257 full-time employees in 2019
  • Our General Clinic Research Center (GCRC) is located at the Sacramento VA Medical Center and is a joint venture with the University of California, Davis
  • Our Martinez VA Medical Center also includes a dental clinic.
  • We received $3.9 million in funding for research programs in 2013
  • Our sources of research funding includes the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute on Aging
  • We opened our Chico VA Clinic in August 2019
  • We acquired Sierra Foothills VA Clinic, Auburn in 2020 from VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System

 

We have three locations pending transfer from VA Palo Alto Health Care System

  • Stockton
  • Sonora
  • Modesto

Accreditations and achievements

Our facilities and programs have received accreditation from:

  • Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations
  • College of American Pathologists
  • Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
  • National Committee for Quality Assurance
  • American College of Radiology

 

The VA Northern California Healthcare System received the following awards:

 

Annual reports and newsletters

Annual reports

VISN 21 annual report fiscal year 2021 (FY21) (PDF)

Newsletter