Veterans Affairs
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Both the Veterans Affairs and Justice departments believe they can easily resolve some concerns with the constitutionality of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. DoJ is concerned, however, that VA will run into the same issues that ultimately rendered a controversial provision on firing senior executives unconstitutional.
May 18, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which senators introduced last week, may have more momentum than previous bills. It now has 12 co-sponsors, including four Democrats and VA Secretary David Shulkin himself. Yet some federal employee groups and experts question whether the new bill has the teeth to truly tackle long entrenched cultural problems at the department.
May 16, 2017 -
Amy Eastman, director of fundraising for Objective Zero, discusses a new mobile app aimed at eliminated veterans' suicides.
May 15, 2017 -
Members of the Senate have reached a long awaited agreement on new accountability procedures for senior executives and employees within the Veterans Affairs Department. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act Thursday morning. It would change current disciplinary appeals rights for both SES and rank-and-file employees.
May 11, 2017 -
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld an appeal from Sharon Helman, the former director of the beleaguered Veterans Affairs medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, who was fired in 2014. The court said a key provision that lets VA more quickly fire and discipline senior executives is unconstitutional. The Merit Systems Protection Board will review the original decision an administrative judge made regarding Helman's removal.
May 09, 2017 -
VA's facilities planning processes leave it with millions of square feet of empty and decaying space.
May 09, 2017 -
One Veterans Affairs Department cybersecurity manager developed a program to reduce turnover and attrition. In fact she's a finalist in this year's Government Information Security Leadership Awards. Barbara Smith, information security director for VA's Pacific District, joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more.
May 08, 2017 -
VA says it wants to significantly expand the health care services it offers through telehealth technologies — voice, video, instantaneous record-sharing — but it's hampered by state laws that require providers to be licensed in the same states as their patients.
May 08, 2017 -
The executive order establishes the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protections as a new entity within VA. The new office will identify barriers and duplicative processes and resources to quickly disciplining and firing VA employees for poor performance or misconduct.
April 27, 2017 -
For the eighth year in a row, the Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs departments will partner with many private organizations to stage a health datapalooza. Greg Downing, executive director for innovation at HHS, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin what HHS will bring to it, and what its goals are.
April 25, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department soft-launched a new online tool that lets veterans search for VA medical facilities and their average wait times within a specific mile radius. VA said it's a significant step in showing accountability and transparency efforts three years after wait time scandals in Phoenix shook up the agency's leadership and organization.
April 13, 2017 -
A Veterans Affairs Inspector General report caused the agency to take immediate action and rethink who it put in charge of the Washington, D.C. medical center. The report detailed serious deficiencies in inventory management, including surgeries and other procedures being performed with expired or possibly non-sterile materials, or postponed due to a lack of supplies altogether.
April 13, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department is only one of many major health care providers that use MUMPS. It could end up spending those billions to replace it with what it has already.
April 10, 2017 -
Foreign affairs imposed on the Trump administration. Treasury moved to sanction North Koreans believed to have military ties. Trump said the U.S. would take unilateral action in response to Pyonyang threats.
April 06, 2017 -
Veterans Affairs Department employees are now answering 99.8 percent of veterans' calls to the VA crisis hotline, and fewer than 1 percent of those calls are rolling over to backup centers. But the VA Inspector General and lawmakers still see some troubling challenges.
April 05, 2017