Obtain an API key for the VA Facilities API from developer.va.gov; this API uses simple API key authentication (no OAuth required) for read-only public facility data.
Send a GET request to /services/va_facilities/v1/facilities with query parameters: lat and long for geographic center, radius for search radius in miles, type to filter by facility type (health, benefits, cemetery, vet_center), and page/per_page for pagination.
Parse each facility object for id, name, address, phone, hours, services.health array (listing available service types), and operatingStatus (normal, notice, limited, closed).
To retrieve a single facility's full details including wait times and patient satisfaction scores, call GET /services/va_facilities/v1/facilities/{facilityId}.
For urgent care searches, filter by facilityType=urgent_care or service type urgent_care within the services array; the API returns both VA-operated and VA-contracted community urgent care sites.
Handle pagination by inspecting the meta.pagination object in the response and iterating through pages until all results are collected.
Known gotchas
Operating hours in the API reflect scheduled hours, not real-time closures due to weather or staffing; advise users to call ahead for urgent needs.
The sandbox API key is publicly documented and has strict rate limits; request a production key before deploying to users.
Facility service availability data (such as specific specialty clinics) may lag behind on-the-ground changes; the VA updates the data regularly but not in real time.
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp