More than 4.4 million Veterans in the United States reside in rural areas. That is almost one-quarter of the nation’s Veteran population.
Veterans in rural areas often face unique health care challenges not shared by their suburban and urban counterparts. Rural communities tend to have longer travel times to medical centers, fewer local specialists, and limited access to broadband internet.
VA and the Office of Connected Care are working to address these disparities and expand access to care in rural communities through telehealth and other virtual tools. In fiscal 2023, about 40% of Veterans who used VA health care received some of their care through telehealth, and more than 770,000 Veterans living in rural communities participated in over 2.9 million telehealth episodes of care.
