Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Jon Tester, D-Mt., are calling on the Government Accountability Office to study how to address doctor and other medical staff shortages at the nation’s VA hospitals.
As members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, they asked for a review of medical recruitment and retention policies to figure out how to get more intake workers, doctors, nurses and assistants to provide veterans with timely and quality health care.
In a letter to the GAO’s Ciomptroller General Gene Dodaro, they conceded a shortage of medical professionals is a nationwide problem.
“However, this issue is particularly impacting veterans,” they wrote pointing out the VA’s own statistics indicate nearly one in six positions is vacant.
“These types of shortages have a direct impact on quality and timeliness of the health care our nation’s veterans have earned and deserve,” their letter states.