The Department of Veterans Affairs is "severely" short of nurses, psychiatrists, police and human resources staff.
VA watchdog agencies, the Office of the Inspector General and Government Accountability Office, said in recent reports that a lack of these employees is a "root cause" of patient problems and major VA hiring and retention challenges "hamper VA's ability to effectively serve veterans."
A new bipartisan bill introduced into the House last week hopes to address some of those issues with HR staff -- reforming hiring practices.
Human resources management hires are the top non-medical staff shortage at VA, followed by police. VA overall has more than 43,000 vacancies.
HR employees are especially key, since they often oversee hires for the rest of VA, the largest healthcare system in the country, serving more than 9 million veterans each year. Bad hires at VA that put veteran lives in danger have filled headlines lately.
In the past months, a former VA pathologist was charged with manslaughter in the deaths of three veteran patients and is alleged to have botched diagnosis in 3,000 cases and another former staff member is a person of interest in multiple veteran homicides, among others. A recent VA Inspector General report showed that VA hired and then allowed an under-qualified eye doctor to perform cataract surgeries for two years.
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The bill from Reps. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., and Mike Bost, R-Ill., the VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance (HELP) Act requires VA to "establish qualifications for each HR position" in the Veterans Health Administration and "establish standardized performance metrics similar to the private sector." HR departments at VA now "currently have no such requirements," the congressmen said in a news release announcing the legislation.
“Human Resources management is a critical part of delivering the high-quality and timely care our veterans deserve,” Cunningham said in a statement. “The VA HELP Act ensures we are attracting and retaining the best possible employees to meet the needs of Lowcountry veterans."
“The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs is to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle,’” Bost said. “Unfortunately, as we have seen both in our own backyard and around the country, the VA cannot fulfill this mission if they cannot recruit and retain highly qualified staff. The VA HELP Act ensures that VA hospitals hire to the highest possible standard so that our veterans receive the best quality care that they deserve once they return home.”