Sen. Ruben Gallego is calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to cancel plans to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the department circulated a memo indicating it planned to nix up to 35,000 mostly-unfilled health care positions, including doctors and nurses; 358 of those positions are in Phoenix.
In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Gallego said the cuts would exacerbate issues within the agency, citing surveys conducted by the VA’s Office of Inspector General earlier this year that found medical centers across the system were having trouble filling jobs.
“At a time of already critical staffing shortfalls, the elimination of these positions will further delay access to care, harm veterans and their families nationwide, and erode trust in the care they are promised and deserve,” Gallego wrote.
He expressed concern that the cuts will impact mental health services for veterans and hamper the agency’s ability to serve newly-enrolled veterans who qualify for care under the PACT Act, a bipartisan 2022 law that expanded coverage to veterans exposed to toxic materials, like burn pits.
A VA spokesman told the Washington Post the agency was planning to eliminate over 26,000 unfilled positions.
Spokesman Pete Kasperowicz provided a similar statement to KJZZ.
“No VA employees are being removed, and this will have zero impact on Veteran care,” Kasperowicz said. “VA is simply eliminating about 25,000 open and unfilled positions — mostly COVID-era roles that are no longer necessary. All of these positions are unfilled and most have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed.”
He said all of the agency's medical facilities are still filling vacancies “as needed.”
Gallego disputed that claim, saying the positions are still necessary, even if they have remained unfilled for an extended period. He asked Collins which specific roles are being eliminated and why they are considered unnecessary.
“The VA Phoenix Health Care System is already facing severe occupational staffing shortages in primary care, mental health, radiology, nursing, and health technician professions, as outlined in a VA OIG report published last August,” Gallego wrote. “Due to these staffing shortages, the average wait time for new patients at most Phoenix-area VA facilities was found to be above the standard of 20 days for primary care and mental health appointments.”
Gallego asked Collins to provide additional information about the cuts, including the type and total number of positions he plans to eliminate in Arizona. He also asked the agency to respond to reports that the VA also plans to reduce the number of regional offices that help administer the VA hospitals across the country.
The latest round of reported job cuts come after the VA announced in July that it was already on pace to reduce staffing by 30,000 out of 484,000 by the end of the last fiscal year, which ended in September.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to include a statement from VA Spokesman Pete Kasperowicz.
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