VA to Halt Oracle-Cerner EHR Rollout at Seven Hospitals by Feb. 11, Officials Say

Decision Set for Feb. 11

The Department of Veterans Affairs will halt the Oracle-Cerner electronic health record rollout at seven hospital campuses no later than Feb. 11 and restore the legacy VistA system at those sites, according to two VA officials familiar with the decision. The officials said VA leaders would announce the suspension on Feb. 6 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., during a private session with veterans service organizations and congressional staff. The move affects roughly 37,000 patient encounters each weekday and marks the most significant reversal of the $16.3 billion modernization program since it began in 2020.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter before the announcement, said the decision was finalized during a Feb. 3 meeting at VA headquarters. A draft memorandum titled "VistA Transition Execution Order" directs the Veterans Health Administration to begin retraining clinical staff on the legacy system by Feb. 9 and to complete the switch at the seven sites by Feb. 11, the officials said. The order also freezes any new Oracle-Cerner deployments scheduled for March and April at four additional facilities, the officials added.

A veterans-service-organization representative who was briefed on the plan confirmed the Feb. 11 target date and said the group had been invited to the Feb. 6 announcement. The representative, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the decision followed a string of incidents in January that delayed prescriptions, duplicated orders, and blocked schedulers from booking mental-health appointments at the affected campuses. The representative said three of the seven sites had reported patient-safety events tied to the Oracle-Cerner system in the final week of January.

Facilities, Costs, and a Return to VistA

The seven campuses affected by the halt include the Central Ohio VA in Columbus; the Southern Nevada VA in Las Vegas; the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle; the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.; the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, Ill.; the Boise VA Medical Center in Idaho; and the Roseburg VA Health Care System in Oregon. Together the sites employ roughly 12,400 clinical and administrative staff, according to VA budget documents.

The officials said the department would not terminate the broader Oracle contract but would return the seven sites to VistA while the company addresses what the officials described as workflow and interoperability failures. Oracle received the $16.3 billion contract, originally awarded to Cerner Corp. in 2018, to replace VistA with a single commercial record across the VA, the Defense Department, and the Coast Guard. The VA has spent approximately $5.6 billion on the project to date, according to a January 2026 report by the Government Accountability Office.

A military spouse advocate who works with families at the North Chicago facility said clinicians there had been warned as early as Jan. 27 to prepare for a return to VistA. The advocate, who requested anonymity to protect the spouse's employment, said the facility sent an internal message on Jan. 30 telling schedulers to resume using the legacy tool for mental-health, oncology, and pharmacy appointments. The advocate said the message referenced a "planned system restoration" but did not give a date.

The VA officials said Oracle representatives are expected to attend the Feb. 6 meeting and present a 90-day remediation plan. The plan is supposed to address medication-ordering errors, referral delays, and problems exchanging records with community providers, the officials said. Oracle has not publicly commented on the reported halt. The VA did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

What Happens Next

The Feb. 6 announcement is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern at the Gaylord National, the officials said. Congressional aides from the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee are expected to attend, along with representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and Wounded Warrior Project. The VA officials said the department would file a formal notification with Congress within 72 hours of the announcement, as required by the fiscal 2024 VA appropriations language.

The two VA officials said four other hospitals that were scheduled to go live with Oracle-Cerner in March and April would remain on VistA indefinitely. Those sites are the Durham VA in North Carolina, the Ralph H. Johnson VA in Charleston, S.C., the Michael E. DeBakey VA in Houston, and the Minneapolis VA, the officials said. The department also plans to appoint a new program executive within the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization by Feb. 13, the officials added.

Lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol had pressed for a pause after a Jan. 22 outage at the Las Vegas facility forced staff to record patient notes on paper for six hours, according to the veterans-service-organization representative. The representative said House Veterans' Affairs Committee staff had requested a briefing for Feb. 9 and that senators from four of the affected states had already scheduled calls with the secretary's office for Feb. 7.

The next 48 to 72 hours will show whether the VA follows through on the Feb. 11 deadline and whether Oracle can produce a remediation plan that satisfies lawmakers. Watch for the formal congressional notification, any statement from the Office of Management and Budget on the contract status, and whether veterans groups publicly support the return to VistA.