VA has recently worked to better serve its older patient population by adopting accredited geriatric emergency departments in an increasing number of its medical centers. More than 60 of VA’s 111 emergency departments already earned Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) from the American College of Emergency Physicians. With more than 50 percent of all VA enrollees at 65 years of age or older, VA plans to expand the program to most of its medical centers over the next three years.
 
Older veterans also now have more resource connections from the emergency departments to promote health and independence. VA has also recently consolidated resources regarding urgent care, emergency care, and other types of VA services into one website with valuable information for acute care needs such as understanding where to go based on signs and symptoms, learning about different types of health care (telehealth, whole health, etc.), finding the nearest emergency room or urgent care, and knowing where to get same-day services and prescriptions at VA. To visit the newly revamped site, click here.