During her four years of active duty with the Navy, Colleen Richardson, PsyD, saw the immediate effects of trauma first-hand. In 2008, as the first woman Operational Stress Control and Readiness Provider embedded with the 1st Marine Division’s Regimental Combat Team, the clinical psychologist provided mental health care to servicemembers on the front lines in Iraq.
Legislators: VA’s Whistleblower Protection Office Is Falling Short
Bipartisan legislation currently being drafted in the House is attempting to clarify the role of VA’s Office of Whistleblower Protection (OAWP), an organization that has been fraught with challenges since it was established in 2017.
Ho Seeks to Reduce Barriers to Care—Inside and Outside VA
Michael Ho, MD, PhD, a staff cardiologist at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care, has spent much of his professional career studying how veterans access VA and the barriers that might stand in their way.
Severe Staffing Shortages Are Again Increasing at VA Medical Facilities
After years of improvements, severe staffing shortages are back on the rise at VA. According to a VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report released last month, fiscal year 2022 put an end to a three-year staffing improvement
VA Makes Efforts to Respond to Healthcare Workers’ High Levels of Stress
As VA employees are reporting increasing levels of burnout, and the department is facing its highest turnover rate in decades, VA has tried to put systems in place to support staff mental and emotional health.
Community Care Coordination Puts Strain on VA Staff, Finances
Since 2014, when Congress passed the Veterans Access Choice and Accountability (Choice) Act, the VA has been paying for U.S. veterans to receive increasing amounts of private sector, non-VA, care.
VA Researcher Focuses on How to Prevent Staff Burnout at VA
For the past five years, Kara Zivin, PhD, MS, MA, has been “chasing burnout,” working to understand what causes it, how to measure it and what are the truly impactful measures that a healthcare system can take to combat it.
VA AIR Report Outdated Because Pandemic Effects Weren’t Considered
Some of the data which the VA used to support the recommendations made in its Asset and Infrastructure Report (AIR) is outdated and flawed, VA leaders recently admitted.
Safety Procedures Aren’t Always Followed at DHA Facilities
Dez Del Barba was only a short way into Army basic training at Fort Benning, GA, when he began to experience escalating pain in both legs. Physicians wrote it off as simple muscle soreness.
Future Employers Might Not Know About Problem Clinicians Fired by VA
A recent investigation by the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found widespread noncompliance by VA facilities in reporting healthcare professionals whose conduct or incompetence led them to be fired to state licensing boards (SLB) or the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB).
VA Leads Nation in Developing Valuation System for Health Care Innovation
The VA introduced a new value-driven framework for evaluating health care innovations in conjunction with the Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) meeting in March.
Severe Staffing Shortages Continue to Plague VA Healthcare System
The VA healthcare system currently is grappling with about 50,000 vacancies, mostly among doctors, nurses, social workers and physician aides. In addition, the turnover rate among nurses is the highest the department has experienced since 2005.
Panel Recommends Closing Some VAMCs, More Emphasis on Outpatient Care
After months of anticipation and years of research, VA has released its Asset and Infrastructure Report (AIR), laying out recommendations for how VA should evolve its physical footprint in the coming decades.
VA, House Committee Consider Future of Vet Center Autonomy
As VA looks at the future of its Vet Center program and whether it is meeting current demand, one of its tasks is to find the balance between keeping Vet Centers’ historic autonomy and making sure the department is providing up-to-date care, especially for veterans who are high-risk for suicide and other mental health issues.
Why Do Cataract, TKA Surgeries Often Cost More at VA vs. Outside Care?
New study raises questions about which veterans requiring cataract and total knee replacement surgeries received community care, as opposed to the cases kept within the VA system.
VA Announces Ambitious Plan to Improve Staff Recruitment, Retention
VA recently unveiled a 10-step human infrastructure plan designed to strengthen the department’s ability to recruit and retain staff.
VA Researchers Track COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Healthcare Workers
As the COVID-19 pandemic exploded and Rebecca Hendrickson, MD, PhD, began hearing reports from friends and colleagues who were in the middle of the first waves in New York and Italy, she found their stories all too familiar.
National Guard Pandemic Response Proves Motto ‘Always Ready, Always There’
For more than two years, the National Guard has risen to the challenges posed by COVID-19 as the pandemic has disrupted lives, supply chains, health care, education and more.
Transition to Civilian Life Remains Difficult Years After Military Discharge
Each year, more than 200,000 servicemembers leave the U.S. military—a transition that can prove difficult.
VA OIG Questions VA’s Data on Ability to Provide Specialty Healthcare
Part of the VA MISSION Act of 2018 required VA to conduct a nationwide audit of its healthcare system’s capacity, identify gaps in care and make recommendations for modernizing or realigning VA facilities to fill those gaps.
VA Gets Approval for 10th Information Technology Chief in Last Decade
VA’s new assistant secretary for the Office of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer is the 10th executive to serve in that post in as many years.
VA Secretary Warns of Hard Conversations Ahead on Agency Resources
VA Secretary Denis McDonough vowed to legislators that the agency will use the lessons it learned during COVID-19 to make the agency stronger going forward.
Military Begins Discharges of Servicemembers Refusing COVID-19 Vaccines
Most active-duty U.S. servicemembers had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-December, when the Army set its deadline.
DoD Will Provide Medical Workers to Help Civilian Hospitals Fight Omicron
In response to the surge of COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant, President Joe Biden said that an additional 1,000 military medical personnel would be available to aid civilian hospitals in the United States by early this year.
Dinardo Urges VA Physicians to Consider All Possibilities With Diagnoses
A clinician’s mind leaps to a diagnosis. It matches the symptoms; it wouldn’t be that unusual for a patient of that age; it seems the most likely solution to the answers that both veteran and physician are seeking.
Nearly All VA Employees Comply with Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements
Nearly all, 98%, of VA employees facing a COVID-19 vaccination requirement have had at least one dose of vaccine or have requested an exception or extension, according to White House data released just before Thanksgiving.
Senator Continues Push to Create More Joint DoD/VA Healthcare Facilities
The James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago is the only joint DoD/VA healthcare facility in operation—a partnership between VA and the Navy. With a gentle push from Congress, that might change in the not-too-distant future.
Survey: VA EHR Deployment Drove Down Staff Morale at Spokane VAMC
Despite lingering problems with the deployment of its new electronic medical record system at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in Spokane, VA, officials said the department is still on track to deploy the system in Columbus, OH, early in 2022.
Military Surgeon Readiness Continues to Decline as Patient Caseloads Drop
Military surgeon readiness continues to decrease because of declining workload, and a new study suggested that patient flow care at the MHS will have to dramatically change to reverse the situation.
LA VAMC Researcher Works to Create Racial, Ethnic, Gender Equity in Healthcare
When Donna Washington, MD, MPH, moved to Los Angeles for a health services fellowship at UCLA following her residency, she imagined that she would end up working in a county or public health system.
