VA Palo Alto Health Care System

About the Palo Alto VA Medical Center

The Palo Alto VA Medical Center, also called the Palo Alto Division, is one of three main locations of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, a Department of Veterans Affairs network that serves Veterans. Its campus is at 3801 Miranda Avenue, near Stanford Research Park. The VA lists the facility as open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while noting that hours vary for different services.

The system has two other main locations, in Livermore and Menlo Park, plus community clinics in Capitola, Fremont, Marina and San Jose and a mobile clinic. This listing focuses on the Palo Alto campus and on practical details for Veterans and visitors. It does not cover eligibility or offer medical advice.

Services on the campus

The Palo Alto campus offers a long list of services. Among them, as the VA lists them:

• Primary care, emergency care and hospital medicine
• Surgery, including neurosurgery, vascular surgery and bariatric surgery
• Cancer care through hematology and oncology
• Spinal cord injury care and polytrauma and traumatic brain injury care
• Blind and low vision rehabilitation at the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center, with 32 beds
• Mental health, addiction care and suicide prevention
• Dental and oral surgery, audiology, optometry and ophthalmology
• Women Veteran care at the Women's Health Center in Building 5
• Imaging, including CT, PET and MRI

The laboratory in Building 100 takes walk-ins on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Many specialty clinics keep weekday hours. Check the VA page for a specific clinic before you go.

Finding your way on campus

The campus is spread across numbered buildings. A few that visitors use most:

• Building 101: Patriot Café, the Patriot Brew coffee counter, the Patriot Store, a Meriwest Credit Union branch and ATM, the chapel and the Patient Advocate Office on the second floor.
• Building 100: dermatology and the laboratory.
• Building 5: the Women's Health Center and the immune (HIV) and infectious disease clinics.
• Building 6: a U.S. Post Office on the first floor.

Wheelchairs are available on campus for Veterans who need them. The pharmacy is open every day, with longer hours on weekdays. The Patriot Café and Patriot Brew are closed on weekends and holidays, though vending machines run around the clock. The VA posts a campus map on its website.

Parking and transportation

Parking is free. The VA asks visitors to allow extra time to find a space. A free VA Palo Alto shuttle runs between medical centers and clinics. DAV vans give rides to scheduled appointments for Veterans and authorized caregivers, on schedules that vary by van. Some Veterans also qualify for beneficiary travel, which can cover round-trip transportation or mileage depending on eligibility.

By transit, the VA names California Avenue as the nearest Caltrain station. VTA buses also serve Palo Alto. Our getting around Palo Alto page covers buses and bikes. The campus sits on the southwest side of town, near Stanford Research Park and the Barron Park neighborhood.

Lodging and visiting

Visitors may not stay overnight in the medical center. Two Fisher Houses near the campus entrance provide free temporary lodging for families of inpatients who live 50 or more miles away. Defenders Lodge, next to them, serves eligible patients who need extensive treatment such as organ transplants or chemotherapy. It allows only service animals and asks for up-to-date immunization records.

Families with young children may also see The Whistle Stop, a nonprofit child development center at the same Miranda Avenue address. For longer treatment, our long stays guide covers furnished rentals and extended stay options. Chaplains are available Monday to Friday and on Sundays. The Patient Advocate Office in Building 101 helps with concerns about care.

Location and getting there

VA Palo Alto Health Care System is at 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, in the Stanford Research Park area of Palo Alto. Our Stanford Research Park guide covers what else is around.

The nearest train stop is the California Avenue Caltrain station, about 1.7 miles away. That is roughly a 42 minute walk or a short bike ride.

Parking: street spaces or a small lot nearby; check posted limits.

Hours

Hours from the business's own website, checked October 29, 2026.

What is nearby

• The Whistle Stop Child Development Center, service business, 0.2 mi
• Juana Briones Kids’ Club, service business, 0.6 mi
• J.P. Morgan Private Bank, firm, 0.6 mi
• Cooley LLP, firm, 0.7 mi
• Squire Patton Boggs, firm, 0.7 mi
• Bol Park and its bike path, 0.4 mi
• Juana Briones Park, 0.8 mi
• Terman Park, 0.9 mi

Other health and medical nearby: Walgreens El Camino Real (1.0 mi); Palo Alto Advanced Dentists (1.0 mi); Lee & Woo Orthodontics (1.0 mi); Endodontic Health of Palo Alto (1.3 mi). Browse the full health and medical list.

Before you go

• Call ahead to confirm the practice accepts your insurance and is taking new patients.
• Bring a photo ID, your insurance card and a list of current medications to a first visit.
• For emergencies call 911. Stanford Hospital's emergency department is the closest major emergency room for most of Palo Alto.

About this listing

Checked October 29, 2026 against Palo Alto VA Medical Center, VA.gov; VA Palo Alto Health Care locations, VA.gov. How our listings work. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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