In Advance of Veterans Day, Bipartisan Coalition of Senators Introduces New Legislation to Improve Staffing at Va Health Centers

Press Release

Today, Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley, Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) held a press conference in the U.S. Capitol to announce the introduction of the Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation to make common-sense changes in staffing policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and improve veterans care at VA health care facilities.
The legislation is also cosponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

At many VA health centers around the country, veterans face wait times of weeks or even months for an appointment. These severe roadblocks to providing timely and quality health care to veterans stem in part from a shortfall of tens of thousands of medical staff. The Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act would reduce bureaucratic obstacles to make it easier for the VA to boost staffing at VA health centers and reduce wait times.

"Our veterans have stepped up, taken the oath, and put on the uniform so that the rest of us can live in a country that is safer and more secure," said Merkley. "They have stood up for us, and we must stand up for them. Long wait times put our veterans' health in jeopardy and are simply unacceptable. It's absurd that doctors can't move from one VA hospital to another without significant red tape. It's just common sense to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles like these and to create a "docs-to-doctors' pipeline from the military into the VA system."

"It is our duty to make certain our veterans receive the care and support they have been promised," said Rounds. "As a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am committed to making improvements at the VA to benefit veterans and cut down on the red-tape our vets have to go through to get the health care benefits they were promised. The Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act will let veterans receive health care closer to home by removing bureaucratic barriers for their providers."

"Not long ago, a VA medical center in Virginia had one of the longest wait times in the nation for veterans attempting to access the care they have earned," said Warner. "After repeat visits to that hospital, I finally saw their wait times come down to the national average. During my visit there and to other VA facilities in my state, I heard from local VA leadership again and again about their staffing challenges. This bipartisan proposal provides a commonsense, cost-effective solution to help ease hiring of qualified medical personnel so we can do better by all of our men and women who have worn the uniform."

"This legislation is a textbook example of how members of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee are coming together to identify the challenges facing the VA, and then working together to come up with common-sense, bipartisan solutions," said Senator Tillis. "The VA has struggled to recruit and retain physician assistants and nurse practitioners, which has exacerbated the issues already plaguing the VA system. The Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act directly addresses this problem by reducing bureaucratic barriers and granting full practice authority to highly-trained medical professionals, which will make it easier for VA facilities across the nation to provide our veterans with the high quality care they need and deserve."

"The men and women who have served our nation in uniform deserve the best health care we can offer," said Shaheen. "This legislation will make common-sense changes at the VA that will encourage the hiring of more doctors and nurses with military backgrounds and improve the overall hiring process for VA medical staff."
"Unnecessary red tape can limit the VA's ability to provide our veterans with the care they deserve," Brown said. "This bill would streamline the hiring of VA medical staff and let qualified health care workers treat more patients. These improvements would help curb the VA's staffing shortfall so our nation's veterans can have continue access to first-class medical care."

"Our military medical professionals are some of the best-trained, most experienced folks around when it comes to providing care," Wyden said. "This bill will help the VA tap that resource, cutting red tape, hiring the trained medical professionals it desperately needs, and reducing wait times for our veterans at home."

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