Tillis & Merkley Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Staffing at VA Health Centers

Statement

Today, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the 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. Joining Senators Tillis and Merkley as original co-sponsors are Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

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 policies that make the recruitment and retention of medical staff extremely difficult. 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. The legislation would also make it easier for servicemembers who have served in medical roles to transfer directly into the VA system and make it easier to transfer or share medical staff and services across VA facilities.

"For too long, the VA has struggled to recruit and retain frontline health care providers, further exacerbating the issues already plaguing the VA system," said Tillis. "The Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act directly addresses this problem by reducing bureaucratic barriers and by creating a streamlined process for transitioning servicemembers to bring their invaluable training and experience to the VA, which will make it easier for VA facilities across the nation to provide our veterans with the high quality care they need and deserve."

"Our veterans have stood up for us, and we must stand up for them," said Merkley. "Long wait times put our veterans' health in jeopardy and are simply unacceptable. It's common sense to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, and to create a "docs-to-doctors' pipeline so that servicemembers who have served in health care roles in the military can easily transition their service into the VA system."

The Health Care Staffing Improvement Act has also been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

Source