Department of Veterans Affairs
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The Veterans Affairs Department recently revealed that none of its senior executives had gotten a rating below fully successful in the past four years. While that may seem shocking, the VA is not that out of the ordinary. Sub-par ratings for SES members are not common and firing them is even less common, says former CHCO Jeff Neal.
June 25, 2014 -
The Veterans Affairs Department is reeling from allegations, made by its own staff, that it has mistreated patients. More employees are coming forward to report what they see as systemic wrongdoing. The Office of Special Counsel is looking at 50 cases right now, and one of them is the case of Valerie Riviello. She is a nurse at the Samuel Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, New York. Cheri Cannon of the law firm Tulley Rinckey is handling her case. They joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss why Riviello decided to blow the whistle.
June 25, 2014 -
Linda Rix, co-CEO of FastYeti Incorporated will talk about a new website that helps veterans navigate their way through the with benefits claims process. June 20, 2014
June 20, 2014 -
On this week's Your Turn radio show, an encore presentation of host Mike Causey's interview with OPM Director Katherine Archuleta. She discusses the status of phased retirement, the retirement-claims backlog and other civil service issues. Andy Medici from the Federal Times joins the show live to discuss President Obama's executive order banning discrimination among LGBT employees of contractors. June 18, 2014
June 18, 2014 -
Last week, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation designed to help solve long wait times at VA medical facilities. The longer-term fixes included more funding to hire health care providers and lease more VA operated facilities. For the shorter term, the McCain-Sanders bill also expands VA's authority to send its patients to outside providers -- including private clinics, but also facilities run by other agencies, including the Indian Health Service and the Defense Department. Retired Vice Adm. Norb Ryan is the president of the Military Officer's Association of America. He spoke with Jared Serbu on In Depth about the plusses -- and as MOAA sees it -- some of the minuses of the bill.
June 18, 2014 -
NARFE's Jessica Klement and Andy Medici from the Federal Times discuss a number of issues affecting feds, including proposed changes to the federal retirement program and the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. June 11, 2014
June 11, 2014 -
One of America's new guessing games is trying to figure out what went wrong at the Department of Veterans Affairs — and how to fix it. Some have suggested the problem is that the VA has too many vets?
June 11, 2014 -
The electronic wait system for keeping track of and monitoring initial primary-care appointments for new patients at Veterans Affairs medical facilities is not the only scheduling system at VA that's now under scrutiny. A separate system for monitoring VA patients' access to outpatient specialty care -- such as cardiologists, gastroenterologists and physical therapists — is also "unreliable," according to GAO's Debra Draper, who testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee Monday evening.
June 09, 2014 -
Scandal-rocked federal agencies could, probably should, take survival training from Detroit auto-makers, who know how to handle little — and sometimes not so little — problems, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
June 09, 2014 -
Linda Rix, co-CEO of FastYeti Incorporated will talk about a new website that helps veterans navigate their way through the with benefits claims process. June 6, 2014
June 06, 2014 -
The Office of Special Counsel is investigating more than three dozen claims of whistleblower retaliation at the scandal-rocked Veterans Affairs Department. The 37 cases OSC is investigating span VA facilities in 19 states. They include VA employees who say they've been retaliated against for disclosing a range of misconduct, including improper scheduling practices, the misuse of agency funds and inappropriately restraining patients, according to OSC.
June 05, 2014 -
On this week's Your Turn radio show, host Mike Causey chats with Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association about the threats to the career SES and the dangers to the American public if career jobs are turned into serve-at-will positions. Mike also speaks with reporter Andy Medici from the Federal Times about the latest at the VA and how legislation could affect feds at that agency.
June 04, 2014 -
Former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson sits down with Women of Washington hosts Aileen Black and GiGi Schumm to offer an insider's perspective on Eric Shinseki's recent resignation from the Veterans Affairs Department.
June 04, 2014 -
A new guide from the Office of Personnel Management lays out the next chapter in the government's efforts to employ veterans. Back in 2009, President Barack Obama told agencies to be model employers of vets. Veterans made up about a quarter of new hires. Today, they are at about 31 percent. Hakeem Basheerud-Deen directs veterans services at OPM. He's also an Air Force vet. He tells Tom and Emily on the Federal Drive that some agencies are doing well at hiring vets.
June 03, 2014 -
Does your agency hand out bonuses to the truly deserving, or are they handed out among the elite on an its-your-turn-rotation system? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wants to know: Is your last bonus really going to to be your last?
June 03, 2014