---
kind: "section"
citation: "38 U.S.C. § 7310"
title: "38"
title_heading: "Veterans’ Benefits"
number: "7310"
heading: "Office of Women’s Health"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/38/7310"
units:
  - "Part V — Boards, Administrations, and Services"
  - "Chapter 73 — Veterans Health Administration—organization and Functions"
  - "Subchapter I — Organization"
---

# §7310. Office of Women’s Health

- (a) **Establishment.—**
  - (1) The Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health shall establish and operate in the [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Health Administration the Office of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the “Office”).
  - (2) The Office shall be located at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  - (3)
    - (A) The head of the Office is the Chief Officer of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the “Chief Officer”).
    - (B) The Chief Officer shall report to the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health.
  - (4) The Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health shall provide the Office with such staff and other support as may be necessary for the Office to carry out effectively the functions of the Office under this section.
  - (5) The Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health may reorganize existing offices within the [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Health Administration as of the date of the enactment of this section in order to avoid duplication with the functions of the Office.
- (b) **Functions.—** The functions of the Office include the following:
  - (1) To provide a central office for monitoring and encouraging the activities of the [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Health Administration with respect to the provision, evaluation, and improvement of health care services provided to women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) by the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1).
  - (2) To develop and implement standards of care for the provision of health care for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) by the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1).
  - (3) To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) by the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1), to provide technical assistance to medical facilities of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) to address and remedy deficiencies, and to perform oversight of implementation of such standards of care.
  - (4) To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) provided through the community pursuant to this title and to provide recommendations to the appropriate office to address and remedy any deficiencies.
  - (5) To oversee distribution of resources and information related to health programming for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) under this title.
  - (6) To promote the expansion and improvement of clinical, research, and educational activities of the [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Health Administration with respect to the health care of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2).
  - (7) To provide, as part of the annual budgeting process, recommendations with respect to the amounts to be requested for furnishing hospital care and medical services to women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) pursuant to [chapter 17](/usc/38/chptII/ch17.md) of this title, including, at a minimum, recommendations that ensure that such amounts either reflect or exceed the proportion of [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) established and operated under [section 1705(a) of this title](/usc/38/1705.md?p=a) who are women.
  - (8) To provide recommendations to the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health with respect to modifying the [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Equitable Resource Allocation system, or successor system, to ensure that resource allocations under such system, or successor system, reflect the health care needs of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2).
  - (9) To carry out such other duties as the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health may require.
- (c) **Recommendations.—**
  - (1) If the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health determines not to implement any recommendation made by the Chief Officer with respect to the allocation of resources to address the health care needs of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2), the [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination by not later than 30 days after the date on which the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health receives the recommendation.
  - (2) Each notification under [paragraph (1)](#c-1) relating to a determination with respect to a recommendation shall include the following:
    - (A) The reasoning of the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health in making the determination.
    - (B) An alternative, if one is selected, to the recommendation that the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health will carry out to fulfill the health care needs of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2).
- (d) **Standards of Care.—** For purposes of carrying out the functions of the Office under this section, the standards of care for the provision of health care for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) from the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) shall include, at a minimum, the following:
  - (1) A requirement for—
    - (A) at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each medical center of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) whose duties include, to the extent practicable, providing training to other health care providers of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) with respect to the needs of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2); and
    - (B) at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each community-based outpatient clinic of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) who may serve women patients as a percentage of the total duties of the provider.
  - (2) Other requirements as determined by the Under [Secretary](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) for Health.
- (e) **Outreach.—** The Chief Officer shall ensure that—
  - (1) not less frequently than biannually, each medical facility of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) holds a public forum for women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) that occurs outside of regular business hours; and
  - (2) not less frequently than quarterly, each medical facility of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1) convenes a focus group of women [veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) that includes a discussion of harassment occurring at such facility.
- (f) **Definitions.—** In this section:
  - (1) The term “appropriate congressional committees” has the meaning given that term in [section 7310A(h) of this title](/usc/38/7310A.md).
  - (2) The term “facility of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1)” has the meaning given the term “facilities of the [Department](/usc/38/101.md?p=1)” in [section 1701(3) of this title](/usc/38/1701.md?p=3).
  - (3) The term “[Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Equitable Resource Allocation system” means the resource allocation system established pursuant to section 429 of the Departments of [Veterans](/usc/38/101.md?p=2) Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2929).

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 116–315, title V, § 5101(b)(1), Jan. 5, 2021, 134 Stat. 5022.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–315, which was approved Jan. 5, 2021.

Section 429 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, referred to in subsec. (f)(3), is section 429 of title IV of Pub. L. 104–204, Sept. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 2929, which is not classified to the Code.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### References to Health Care and Services

Pub. L. 116–315, title V, § 5101(b)(2), Jan. 5, 2021, 134 Stat. 5026, provided that: “The references to health care and the references to services in sections 7310 and 7310A of title 38, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), are references to the health care and services included in the medical benefits package provided by the Department as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 5, 2021].”