To address the severe staffing shortages within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) on May 7 introduced a bipartisan bill to streamline the hiring process for medical professionals.
According to the VA Inspector General for healthcare inspections, 132 out of 140 facilities last year reported severe occupational staffing shortages, with 87 percent of medical center directors seeing a severe shortage of medical officers and 72 percent reporting a severe shortage of nurses.
“This bill has real potential to improve access to and quality of care for the west Michigan veteran population,” Rep. Meijer said, “and I am extremely proud to lead this effort in the House.”
The congressman signed on as the lead original cosponsor of the Veterans Improved Access to Care Act, H.R. 3027, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), which would expand reporting on hiring in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), direct the VA to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new VHA medical providers, and reduce the duration of the hiring process for such medical providers, according to the congressional record bill summary.
The pilot program created under H.R. 3027 would be tasked with reducing the length of time to onboard VA medical providers to not more than 60 days, according to Rep. Meijer’s bill summary, and the VA Secretary would be required to submit a report to Congress within 180 days of the bill’s enactment with a strategy to reduce the duration of the VA hiring process for medical professionals by half, among other provisions.
“The pilot program established by this bill, coupled with increased reporting on the VA’s onboarding practices, will be critical in determining the most efficient strategies to help address staffing shortages and get more qualified VA medical personnel into facilities without sacrificing the quality of care that our veterans deserve,” said Rep. Meijer. “By choosing facilities in different regions with varied populations, this program will provide the VA with strategies that can be used to benefit all veterans regardless of where they live.”