San Francisco VA Medical Center

Did you know that the number of women Veterans using VA services has doubled in the past decade? Currently about 300,000 women Veterans use VA medical services nationwide. With this in mind, and the anticipated influx of women Veterans returning from war, we anticipate an increase in demand in women’s health care. And we’re ready!

Since its opening in 1995, the Women’s Comprehensive Health Center at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) has provided top-quality health care to eligible women who have served in our armed forces.

Our women’s care offerings include services such as: primary care, gynecological care, medical and surgical care, social services, substance abuse treatment, weight loss counseling, mental health evaluation and treatment, and much more.

Recently, the SFVAMC Women’s Center has been undergoing some exciting transformations. “We’ve always been a comprehensive women’s health center, we just haven’t had the physical space that really allows for the desired amount of privacy,” said Nurse Practitioner and Women Veterans Program Manager Cheryl Wenell, RN. “Our goal was to provide a more welcoming and more private space. With the increasing number of patients, we also needed more clinical rooms. We’ve also integrated our behavioral health services to be offered here in our clinic, and increased the number of rooms for our medical and gynecological health care providers.”

 “With all of these changes we are really becoming a much more accessible place for women with a much more welcoming and warm environment,” said Wenell.

 In the past year, the top three diagnostic categories for women being treated by VA were post traumatic stress disorder, hypertension, and depression. All of these are addressed and treated at the Women’s Center. “We’ve realigned our services to being a women’s health Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT),” said Wenell. “It’s always been a goal from the very beginning to provide a one-stop shop for our women patients,” said Wenell. “We have always had multidisciplinary services. It’s just that our space now accommodates those services a lot better!”

Also offered at the women’s clinic are intervention and support groups, by provider referral. “Women’s Wellness MOVE is one of our programs, with dietitians and medical consultants focusing on weight management, exercise, stress reduction, mindful eating, and emotional eating,” said Psychiatric Nurse Specialist Nancy Herzoff, RN, who sees patients at the women’s clinic and who is also our military sexual trauma coordinator. Other groups are “Seeking Safety” for trauma and substance abuse; “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” using meditation; “ACT” acceptance commitment therapy for a different way of looking at problems and depression; and “Women’s Healing Trauma”.  There’s also individual psychotherapy.

“Our focus is to provide the very best team-based, patient-centered care,” said Wenell. “We are incorporating evidenced-based plans that include the patient’s views, and the patient’s idea of what they come here to get. There’s a whole new effort on trying to make the care plan a cooperative effort, and to start from the point of where the patient is coming from. We’re a team caring for the patient, and trying to improve same-day access.”

Goals for the coming year? “In addition to refining the physical space, we’d like to totally get up and running with online Secure Messaging for our patients,” said Wenell. “We are also working on the TeleHealth program for patients to be able to speak with their providers by phone in lieu of coming in for an appointment. And we’re focusing a lot more on the patient’s values and cultural issues.”

To learn if you are eligible for VA care and to enroll, just complete VA Form 10-10EZ. You may apply online, or visit, call, or write to any VA health care facility or Veterans’ Benefits Office, or call the VA Health Benefits office toll-free at 877-222-8387.

To make an appointment with the SFVAMC Women’s Comprehensive Health Clinic call 415-750-2174. The clinic is located in Bldg. 203, 1st floor, Room 1B-72. For more information about the services provided, click here.