The Safeguarding VA's Healthcare Workforce Act directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a pilot program that allows the VA to hire outside healthcare providers to fill empty shifts at VA medical facilities. The pilot program will operate in no more than two Veterans Integrated Services Networks, with preference given to rural areas or facilities that frequently have unfilled shifts, and the VA will pay contracted entities a fixed rate for each shift filled. The program includes protections for veterans' privacy by limiting outside providers' access to patient medical records to only those veterans they directly treat. The VA must begin the pilot program within one year of the bill's enactment and will terminate it after three years, submitting reports to Congress at the 21-month mark and again within 90 days of program termination. The legislation aims to address staffing shortages at VA medical facilities without specifying dedicated funding amounts.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.