Veteran Affairs Medical Center Facilities

The NMVAHCS provides care to VA and qualified DOD patients at the large tertiary care medical center in Albuquerque, and is a leader in the provision of rural health care, opening its first VA-staffed community based outpatient clinic (CBOC) in Farmington, New Mexico, followed by clinics in Artesia, Gallup, Raton, Silver City, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe. In recent years, the NMVAHCS has contracted with Health Net Federal Services and Ben Archer Health Center to provide Veterans access to clinics throughout New Mexico and southwest Colorado.

Through the academic affiliation with the University Of New Mexico School of Medicine residents in all specialties rotate to the VA throughout their training years.  In 1995 the UNMSOM Department of Emergency Medicine established the VA ED rotation and elective for our EM residents.  The rotation is an opportunity for residents to provide care to a wide variety of complex patients in an integrated federal health care system.

The VA Emergency Medicine Service provides attending faculty supervision, and the first year residents also spend a portion of their time with Anesthesia acquiring airway management experience and training. VA UNM faculty also provide medical student and midlevel student preceptorships, and they participate in multiple teaching and academic activities within the Department of EM and SOM.