Veterans Affairs

  • The Veterans Affairs Department finally fired Terry Gerigk Wolf last week. The former director of the Pittsburgh VA center had been on paid leave since June following a review of a Legionnaire's disease outbreak that claimed the lives of six patients there. Wolf is the fourth senior executive to be removed under the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014. John Palguta is vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what that firing means for the future of due process protections for federal employees.

    November 18, 2014
  • The Veterans Affairs Department has reduced wait times for tens of thousands of veterans seeking health care. Part of the progress comes from the congressionally-mandated Veterans Choice program. It requires the VA to issue choice cards to vets so they can seek medical care from private providers with VA footing the bill. VA issued the first batch of cards this month. James Tuchschmidt, acting principal deputy undersecretary for health at the VA, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the rollout and the program.

    November 18, 2014
  • VA will release by Nov. 21 a request for proposals for a new commercial scheduling system and integration services for that scheduling software with its VISTA health IT system.

    November 17, 2014
  • Leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs just found out that independent auditors have given their IT security program a failing grade for the 16th year in a row. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has details on the security shortcomings and what VA says it's doing to fix them.

    November 14, 2014
  • PITTSBURGH (AP) — The director of the Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Healthcare System has been fired. The move comes a month after officials determined that she had committed “conduct unbecoming a senior executive,” along with wasteful…

    November 13, 2014
  • The reorganization at the Veterans Affairs Department is a rebranding effort in many ways. VA Secretary Bob McDonald will hire a chief customer service officer to try to reverse an image of poor quality care for its customers. Kim Hayes, CEO and co-founder of Ambit Group, is also a finalist for Executive of Year at the 2014 GovCon awards. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose about Ambit Group's data-centric approach to agency reorganization.

    November 13, 2014
  • Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald is making news with his plans to reorganize the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jeff Neal, senior vice president for ICF International, says the Secretary's moves are a good start because VA, like most large agencies, has its fair share of redundant organizations.

    November 13, 2014
  • Leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs is reviewing the recommendations of a working group of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. That working group looked at scheduling at two VA medical centers in Virginia. Bobbie Kilberg is president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she explained who did what for VA, and why.

    November 12, 2014
  • The largest reorganization in Veterans Affairs Department history won't look like most re-orgs you've seen before. That's according to Bob Tobias -- he's professor of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said the organizational chart at the VA won't see the changes most other agencies do.

    November 12, 2014
  • It may seem like a leap to go from Army sniper to a career helping federal agencies deliver great online customer service and software development practices. But that's the story of Randy Tharp. A wounded warrior of two tours of duty in Iraq, he's also had two tours of duty as a federal civilian employee before heading to the Five-Nine Group.

    November 11, 2014
  • This Veterans Day will be one of transition at the Veterans Affairs Department. New secretary Bob McDonald has taken steps to minimize delays at veterans health centers across the country and show he's holding employees accountable. Now he wants to embark on a major reorganization of the department. One of the people watching closely is Verna Jones, the new executive director of the American Legion. Jones tells Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp that she sees progress at the VA but there's still so much more to improve.

    November 10, 2014
  • VA Secretary Bob McDonald said the new "Road to Veterans Day Action Review" released Thursday will help change the culture of the agency. The three-pronged strategy is part of McDonald's efforts during his first 100 days in office.

    November 07, 2014
  • Veterans made 2 million virtual health care visits in fiscal 2014. Whether it's having a consult without leaving your living room or having medical data collected and monitored remotely, telehealth makes more care possible for many vets who can't make it to a clinic or don't have one nearby. Ellen Edmonson is deputy chief consultant of the Veterans Health Administration Telehealth Services. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to describe how telehealth works.

    October 24, 2014
  • The Veterans Affairs Department has broken its own records in processing disability and pension claims. The agency made its way through 1.3 million claims in fiscal 2014. That surpasses 2013's record by 150,000. One result is that VA's disability claims backlog fell to its lowest number in four years. It's down 60 percent from the peak of March 2013. These numbers put VA on track to meet its 2015 goals. Allison Hickey is the undersecretary for benefits at the VA. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain how the agency was able to plow through so many cases.

    October 21, 2014
  • In an agency rocked by scandal and mismanagement, employees at the Veterans Affairs Department are becoming less pleased with their senior leaders. According to data from the Office of Personnel Management's 2014 Employee Viewpoint Survey, only 37 percent of employees surveyed said they are satisfied with their senior leaders' policies and practices. The number is down from 40 percent in the 2013 survey.

    October 17, 2014