Sen. Tim Kaine seeks to address Veterans Affairs staff shortages

June 14--Sen. Tim Kaine is pushing legislation to address worker shortages at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a concern that hits home at the Hampton VA Medical Center.

The Better Workforce for Veterans Act, which has bipartisan support, would create a vacant jobs database, expand authority for direct hiring to fill high-demand jobs and create flexibility for hiring qualified students and recent graduates.

Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., joined the Virginia Democrat in introducing the bill, which is backed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS, also known as American Veterans.

The VA has 45,000 staff vacancies, and 38,000 of those positions involve front-line care, Kaine said in a news release. He said the bill takes "an important step towards improving the recruitment, hiring and retention processes at the VA and will help make the VA a more attractive career option for recent college grads."

Staff shortages at the Hampton VA, where patient growth rates have been well above the national average, became apparent during two recent high profile visits.

VA Secretary David Shulkin toured the medical campus June 1 and told the Daily Press that hiring is a priority across the VA system.

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"We are really working hard to hire mental health professionals," he said. Referring to Hampton, he said, "We're 24 short on mental health and on primary care we're about 17 providers short."

In April, Sen. Mark R. Warner slammed the temporary federal hiring freeze put in place by the Trump administration. Although exceptions were made for health-care providers, the freeze created shortages in Hampton's human resources department, which made it difficult to process new hires.

The administration has since lifted the freeze.

Staffing levels have had a direct impact on patient wait times at the Hampton VA.

The inspector general's office for the Department of Veterans Affairs has substantiated part of a 2015 complaint alleging inadequate patient care at the Hampton

In a report released Thursday, the inspector general's office found that five of the 15 assertions made...

The inspector general's office for the Department of Veterans Affairs has substantiated part of a 2015 complaint alleging inadequate patient care at the Hampton VA Medical Center's nursing home.

In a report released Thursday, the inspector general's office found that five of the 15 assertions made...

In December 2014, the Hampton region logged the nation's longest wait times for primary care patients at about 30 days. Officials said an exodus of staff members contributed to that problem. After an aggressive hiring push, average wait times dropped to less than 10 days.

Kaine said the legislation would also:

--Create a VA-wide database for vacant and hard-to-fill positions.

--Survey why employees choose to leave the VA.

--Strengthen training for human resource employees.

Lessig can be reached by phone at 757-247-7821.

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