Tackling Delayed Care for Veterans: Jaime Herrera Beutler Secures Stronger Accountability Measures to Address Understaffing Issues within the Portland-area VA

Press Release

Yesterday, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved Jaime Herrera Beutler's legislative directive to address the lengthy VA hiring process and staff vacancies that have delayed care for Southwest Washington veterans. While the Vancouver VA clinic has slots for 16 primary care physicians, it currently only has 11 physicians on staff. This staff shortage contributes to over 10% of veterans being forced to wait 30-plus days for health care appointments, which is three times the national average.

Jaime's legislative directive was included in yesterday's Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill for 2017, and requires the VA to investigate the steps, and cost of those steps, in its hiring process. This legislative directive continues Jaime's previous work to address long wait times at the Vancouver and Portland VA due to high staff turnover.

"It's my job to make sure the men and women who have sacrificed to serve and defend our country receive the care they've earned," said Jaime. "We continue to see major holes in the VA system -- particularly with hiring and retaining staff that provide care. The VA insists they are correcting these problems, but it's happening too slowly for Southwest Washington veterans who need quality medical care. It's important that Congress advances these accountability measures I've authored to give the VA more tools to provide better services to our military heroes."

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