OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relative burden of cardiovascular disease in diabetic and nondiabetic admissions to Veterans Administration (VA) and non-VA hospitals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Calendar year 1997 hospitalization data were collected from the VA Patient Treatment File and the National Hospital Discharge Survey, National Center for Health Statistics. Discharge diagnoses based on ICD-9 codes were used to classify cardiovascular events and procedures and diabetes. Proportionate hospitalization ratios (PHRs) were calculated based on the number of cardiovascular hospitalizations from among all hospitalizations. RESULTS: We identified 119,653 VA hospitalizations (19.1%) and 3,765,696 non-VA hospitalizations (16.8%) that coded diabetes among the discharge diagnoses. Cardiovascular hospitalizations, primarily coronary in origin, accounted for nearly 50% of all hospitalizations of persons with diabetes within VA and non-VA medical care systems. Coronary events and procedures (PHR = 1.85 and 1.68) and, to a lesser extent, cerebrovascular events and procedures (PHR = 1.55 and 1.33) were more common in VA hospitalizations where diabetes was listed as a comorbidity than in VA hospitalizations where diabetes was not listed. The burden of coronary hospitalizations was larger in VA than non-VA facilities for men (PHR = 1.82 vs. 1.66) and smaller in VA than non-VA facilities for women (PHR = 3.11 vs. 3.44) in age and race-standardized analyses. The burden of coronary hospitalization was higher for whites and blacks in VA facilities (PHR = 1.83 and 2.01) when compared with non-VA facilities (PHR = 1.68 and 1.84). CONCLUSIONS: The burden of cardiovascular hospitalizations is not equally borne across hospitalizations with and without diabetes and across VA and non-VA facilities.