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DEMOCRATIC PRESS RELEASE

October 18, 2007

House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Recruitment and Retention of Health Care Professionals

Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-9756

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee, led by Chairman Michael H. Michaud, (D-ME), held a hearing on the recruitment and retention of health care professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The hearing focused on the VA’s current recruitment and retention tools and ways that these tools might be updated to address current needs.

“Health care professionals are the Veterans Health Administration’s most important resource in delivering high-quality health care to our nation’s veterans,” said Chairman Michaud. “Not only does the VA need to maintain its current workforce, but the VA also needs to look to the future to ensure that its staffing needs can be met.”

The VA has a number of tools that it currently uses in its recruitment and retention effort for health care professionals. These include VA-wide programs such as the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) and the Employee Incentive Scholarship Program (EISP) as well as local initiatives like recruitment and retention bonuses for health care professionals.

“Shortages in health care staff threaten the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) ability to provide quality care and treatment to veterans,” said Joseph Wilson of The American Legion. “Shortages in health care staffing also influence VHA’s ability to provide timely access to quality and, in some instances, its ability to provide certain types of care.”

“In order to continue to provide the highest quality health care to veterans, the VA needs to ensure that it is able to hire and retain high caliber health care professional including doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and physical therapists,” said Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “During the days of Sputnik, the government placed an emphasis on science and engineering by offering scholarships and national awards. Today, this country, along with the VA, has a need for health care providers. There are plenty of ways to entice our brightest students to pursue a formal education in this field and I hope we can make significant progress on this issue.”

Witnesses discussed a number of ways to address the shortage of health care specialists including expanding the types of health care professionals hired by the VA. Last year, Congress passed the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 which explicitly recognizes licensed counselors as health care providers within the VHA.

“Health care professionals often choose to work in the private sector because it offers more attractive pay and benefits packages,” said Chairman Michaud. “Our focus needs to be on the recruitment and retention at the VA so our returning veterans can continue to receive quality medical and mental health care.”

The opening statements of all the witnesses are available on the Committee website at http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/
hearing.aspx?NewsID=125.

Witnesses:

Panel 1

*Jeffrey L. Newman, PT, Chief, Physical Therapy Department, Minneapolis VA Medical Center on behalf of American Physical Therapy Association
*Richard D. Krugman, M.D., Chair, American Association of Medical Colleges Executive Council, Dean, and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, University of Colorado School of Medicine
*Kristi McCaskill, M.Ed., NCC, NCSC, Counseling Advocacy Coordinator, National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates
*Jim Bender, Communications Service Manager, CACI Strategic Communications

Panel 2

*Joseph L. Wilson, Assistant Director for Health Policy, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, The American Legion
*Joy J. Ilem, Assistant National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans
*J. David Cox, National Secretary-Treasurer, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO

Panel 3

*William F. Feeley, MSW, FACHE, Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
*Nevin Weaver, Chief Management Support Officer, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
*Joleen Clark, Deputy Chief Management Support Officer, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

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Larry Scott  --

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