Oklahoma’s U.S. Senators are taking up a cause for veteran care by drawing up legislation to empower regional Veterans Affairs directors to fire VA employees who don’t do their job.
Senators James Lankford and Jim Inhofe filed the Veterans Affairs Accountability Act (S. 2554) to expand the authority at the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow directors for Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) chapters to remove or demote any VA employee within their network whose performance warrants such action. The measure also gives the VISN directors the authority to contract with an outside investigator to conduct investigations of their VA medical facilities.
“Men and women who served our nation in uniform deserve quality care. Unfortunately, the VA isn’t always meeting this expectation,” said Lankford. “To ensure our veterans receive quality care, we must give our senior officials at the regional level the tools to hold people accountable. Most VA employees perform at the highest standards and I applaud them. But they deserve to work alongside others who share their same high standards. Oklahomans demand the Department of Veterans Affairs fix their problems now. This bill will help bring the VA in line with the expectations of our veterans and fellow Oklahomans.”
Inhofe contend the Veterans Affairs Accountability Act builds on the reforms put in place after system wide failures to provide care to veterans were revealed in a shocking detail two years ago.
“Building upon the sound policy of the 2014 VA reform bill, our legislation grants VA leadership at the regional level the authority to fire any staff that are failing to provide adequate care to veterans,” said Inhofe. “As I have worked to address the many concerns I have with Oklahoma’s VA facilities, I have come to trust the leadership at VISN 19. They conducted two investigations into the Muskogee VA medical facility at the end of last year that resulted in immediate corrective action. Not only were intermediate surgeries suspended due to what they uncovered but also the Chief of Staff has been temporarily removed from his position. This process, however, revealed that VISN directors are not presently empowered to address staffing concerns in the facilities they oversee. Our legislation peels away the layers of bureaucracy and empowers directors at each VISN to play a larger role with improving the VA system as whole.”
S. 2554 also directs the Comptroller General to provide a report to Congress on the implementation of the Veterans Choice Program by the VA. The deadline for that report, if the bill passes into law, would be March 1, 2017.
