VA announces expansion of “Close to Me” cancer program as part of the Cancer Moonshot, bringing cancer diagnosis and treatment closer to thousands of Veterans

WASHINGTON — Today, as a part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced an expansion of its Close to Me cancer care program. This expansion will bring new cancer diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance services to an additional 9,000 Veterans and 30 locations by the end of October 2025.

Under this program, VA clinicians travel to provide Veterans with the full continuum of cancer care at nearby community-based outpatient clinics, often in rural locations. This reduces the need for Veterans to travel to medical centers for cancer care, affording Veterans and their caregivers more time to go about their daily lives and focus on healing. It also allows more Veterans to utilize VA care, which is proven to be the best care in America for Veterans.

Close to Me cancer care has had zero reported medical emergencies during treatment to date, has high patient satisfaction among Veterans, and has a 99% treatment adherence rate. Since the inception of the program in 2021, nearly 500 Veterans have had cancer treatments closer to home in over 20 community-based outpatient clinic locations, reducing travel for Veterans and their caregivers by more than 200,000 miles.

This work is a part of fulfilling President Biden’s Unity Agenda and the Biden Cancer Moonshot and VA’s aggressive efforts to provide world-class care for over one million Veterans on the cancer care continuum, from screening to survivorship.  

“We want Veterans to have easy access to the care they need, where they need it,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We also know that VA provides the best care possible for Veterans. This expansion will provide Veterans with a VA care option that delivers truly personalized, high-quality, integrated cancer care closer to where they live.”

To date, the service has resulted in savings of more than $1.9 million in medication costs by leveraging VA’s statutory access to reduced drug costs compared with costs if these Veterans had been referred to the community.

At today’s press conference with Secretary McDonough, Andrea Stone, RN, Associate Chief Nurse for Specialty Care with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, told the story of a decorated Army Veteran who was undergoing stem cell treatment for his multiple myeloma. He was able to reduce his travel time for treatments from two days to one due to the Close to Me program bringing the second day of treatment to a clinic in his town. He is just one of the many Veterans whose cancer care journeys were made easier by this program.

This effort builds on VA and the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive efforts to improve care for Veterans with cancer. In March, VA announced the expansion of its life-saving cancer screening programs. Last July, VA expanded cancer risk assessments and mammograms (as clinically appropriate) to Veterans under 40, regardless of age, symptoms, family history, or whether they are enrolled in VA health care. Last September, VA and the National Cancer Institute announced a historic data-sharing collaboration to better understand and treat cancer among Veterans. VA has also prioritized claims processing for Veterans with cancer — delivering nearly $516 million in PACT Act benefits to Veterans with cancer between August 10, 2022 and March 3, 2024. And VA has screened more than 5 million Veterans for toxic exposures under the PACT Act — a critical step to detecting, understanding, and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions like cancer.

VA encourages Veterans to reach out to their VA provider about how VA can support them wherever they may be in their cancer care journey. Learn more about VA cancer care by visiting cancer.va.gov.