VA EHR Rollout: What Facilities Need Now

The Department of Veterans Affairs is gearing up for a pivotal year in its electronic health record modernization effort. After a prolonged deployment freeze, the VA announced it will roll out the Oracle Health EHR system at 13 medical centers in 2026. starting with four Michigan facilities on April 11 and expanding to nine additional sites in Ohio, Indiana, and beyond. The project’s success or failure will have lasting implications for AV integrators, facility managers, and technology partners serving federal healthcare.

Where the Rollout Stands

As of early 2026, only six of the VA’s 170 medical centers are live on the new Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) EHR platform. The system has been plagued by usability issues, with a September 2024 Government Accountability Office survey finding that 75% of clinical staff disagreed or strongly disagreed that the new EHR made them as efficient as possible. That feedback prompted a deployment freeze that lasted over a year.

Now, deployments are resuming. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, VA Battle Creek Medical Center, VA Detroit Healthcare System, and VA Saginaw Healthcare System are scheduled to go live on April 11, 2026. Nine more sites are planned for later in the year, with the ambitious goal of completing the full 170-site rollout by 2031.

What This Means for Facility Technology

Every EHR deployment triggers a cascade of facility technology upgrades. Clinical workstations, patient check-in kiosks, telemedicine endpoints, and training rooms all need to be provisioned, networked, and integrated before go-live. For AV integrators, the key areas of opportunity include:

• Training rooms: Large-format displays, video distribution systems, and recording capabilities for clinical staff training on the new EHR workflow
• Telemedicine suites: Upgraded cameras, microphones, and encoding hardware to support virtual care delivery through the Oracle Health platform
• Command centers: Real-time operational dashboards displayed on video walls that pull data from the new EHR for bed management, patient flow, and resource allocation
• Patient-facing displays: Wayfinding kiosks, digital signage for wait times, and bedside entertainment systems that integrate with the facility’s IT backbone

Budget and Oversight

Congress allocated $3.4 billion for the VA EHR system in fiscal year 2026, but lawmakers included a provision withholding 30% of the funding until July 2026. Access to those funds is contingent on the VA providing an updated lifecycle cost estimate, a facility-by-facility implementation schedule, and certifications that the project has met its rollout goals. This congressional scrutiny means every dollar spent on supporting technology. including AV infrastructure. needs to be well-documented and defensible.

“Federal healthcare facilities operate under a level of scrutiny and compliance that commercial projects never see. Every system, every cable run, every display mount needs documentation that can withstand an audit.” __EMDASH_PROTECT_0__

Positioning for the Opportunity

For facility managers and contracting officers at VA medical centers on the 2026 deployment schedule, now is the time to assess your AV infrastructure. Training rooms, telemedicine suites, and operational command centers will all see increased demand as clinical staff transition to the new system. Engaging an experienced AV integrator early in the planning process ensures that technology upgrades align with the EHR deployment timeline and budget cycle.

Restrepo Innovations has deep experience designing and deploying AV systems for government and military facilities, including environments that require strict compliance documentation. If your facility is preparing for an Oracle Health EHR deployment, schedule a consultation with our government division team.