Bills
| 3.23.22

Does the VA Need to Improve How it Recruits and Retains Physicians and Other Employees? (H.R. 1367)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 1367?

(Updated May 22, 2019)

This bill would require the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) to change its administrative procedures in order to make it easier for the agency to recruit and retain physicians and other employees. It would look to improve the VA’s employee recruitment and retention programs, while also establishing fellowship programs aimed at enhancing the experience of existing employees. There would be fellowships for 18-30 VA employees and private sector employees to diversify their training and boost their experience.

Each year, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) would be required to identify staffing shortages for five clinical and five non-clinical occupations within the VHA and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The VA would establish a database listing each vacant VA position that is critical, difficult to fill or both and provide human resources personnel with employee recruitment and retention training. For applicants who aren’t chosen, the VA would consider them for other similar vacant positions.

The VA would also be required to collect information about the effectiveness of its hiring practices, and make that information available each year to let the Veterans Integrated Service Network or a comparable public or private organization use it to gauge effectiveness.

Argument in favor

Improving the VA’s hiring practices and creating fellowships for employees to get private sector training in their field are commonsense ways for the VA to improve the quality of its workforce.

Argument opposed

The problems at the VA weren’t caused by a shortage of quality employees, but rather by a lack of resources. Congress shouldn’t expect better results from the VA without increasing its budget.

Impact

Veterans and beneficiaries working with the VA; current and prospective VA employees; and the VA as a whole.

Cost of H.R. 1367

The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would cost $28 million over the 2017-2022 period, or about $4.5 million per year.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) introduced this bill to improve the VA’s ability to hire and keep high quality healthcare providers and other professionals on staff:

“Ultimately, the people who suffer the most from bureaucratic hiring inefficiencies at VA hospitals are the veterans they are here to serve. When attracting highly-qualified candidates is a challenge for Veterans’ Affairs hospitals, access to care, quality of care and wait times for veterans suffer. Streamlining and updating the VA hiring process of doctors and hospital staff is a critical step towards providing our heroes the medical care they have earned and deserve.”

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee reported this bill favorably to the House without taking a recorded vote. It has the bipartisan support of four cosponsors, including three Republicans and one Democrat.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Federal Government Work / Public Domain)