The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second largest federal agency in the government with four important missions: taking care of our nation’s veterans, training a majority of our country’s doctors and other healthcare professionals, conducting medical research, and serving as a backup to the private sector healthcare system during national emergencies, just like it did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In other words, the VA is instrumental in our country’s healthcare system and its success. Yet bad policies and politics have managed to stand in the way of the VA serving our nation’s heroes and the American public that benefits from its expertise.
The Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute and AFGE’s National VA Council last week released a report on the results of a survey which asked employees about the impact of recent legislation and administrative actions on employees, veterans, and their families.
Some of the major findings are:
At a press conference on March 21, VHPI senior policy analyst Suzanne Gordon said the VA has several serious challenges: it is not hiring enough and fast enough. It is not paying market-based salaries. It is not doing anything to do away with the Human Resources Modernization Project that has delayed hiring. It is not getting enough funding. It is outsourcing too much veterans’ health care to private-sector providers who are often not equipped to take care of our veterans’ unique needs.
“They could reverse Human Resources Modernization Project tomorrow. Add telehealth as access to care,” Gordon said when asked what the VA can do right now.
MJ Burke, NVAC’s first executive vice president, said employees don’t always get locality pay – they’ll get it if the local office has the money. Retention allowance is being floated but not fulfilled.
“It’s gimmickry, and guess what, [employees] are going to walk out the door,” she said.
To improve employee morale and the VA’s ability to deliver care to veterans, the report recommends a series of policy solutions:
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