In Appropriations Hearing, Rep. Susie Lee Questions Va Secretary and Advocates to Expand Health Care Access for Veterans

Press Release

In today's Fiscal Year 2023 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) budget hearing for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Rep. Susie Lee directed questions to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. During her questioning, Rep. Lee secured a commitment from Secretary McDonough to reconsider the proposed VA facility closure in Laughlin, Nevada. She also advocated for increased transparency regarding the rollout of the Electric Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program.

In March, Rep. Lee sent a letter to the administration raising concerns about the VA's proposed closure of the Laughlin Rural Outreach Clinic, a facility that has provided thousands of southern Nevada veterans with essential care.

Additionally, as the former chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, Rep. Lee has been a fervent supporter for increased transparency and accountability amidst the Department of Veterans Affairs' repeatedly delayed rollout of the EHRM program. In July of 2021, Rep. Lee joined House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Mark Takano and a bipartisan group of her colleagues in introducing the VA Electronic Health Record Transparency Act to force VA to account for all costs associated with the project and report those to Congress.

Rep. Lee began by asking Secretary McDonough about the VA's recent proposed closure of the Laughlin Rural Outreach Clinic:

Rep. Lee -- "Secretary, I've been hearing some significant concerns from veterans in my district about recent recommendations from the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission for facility closures, and a specific concern is the recommendation of a closure for the Laughlin Rural Outreach Clinic. In southern Nevada, this clinic has provided health care to thousands of veterans, and in what is really an under-resourced community... It would ask veterans who now receive care within their community to take transportation across the bridge into Arizona to Bullhead City, and this is no small task for veterans who are seriously ill or disabled, or lack the adequate transportation … How will the VA ensure that veterans in communities see continued improvements to health care access, especially if they lack transportation and the broadband connection for telehealth?"

Secretary McDonough -- "Thank you very much for the question and thank you for the letter, which I reviewed very closely and obviously talking to our team about it. The fact is we're early in this process... Much of the data on which the decisions were made predates the pandemic. I think that's a mistake. However, the statute being what the statute is, there was not an option for me to stop this program. So, what we will do is we will update the data on which those recommendations are based and give that to the commission during the course of its proceedings … Lastly, the whole set of recommendations are designed to try to get more care in a more updated fashion, in more modern facilities, closer to our veterans. It sounds like … we did not hit the mark in southern Nevada with this proposal that vets travel to Bullhead City. I'm happy to take a relook at this, and I think we ought to make sure that the commission itself takes a look at it."

Rep. Lee then asked a series of questions regarding technology and cybersecurity modernization efforts at the VA, including the EHRM program:

Rep. Lee - "As former chairwoman of the [House Veterans Affairs] Technology Modernization Subcommittee, I obviously feel very strongly about the rollout of the Electronic Health Records Modernization. We've seen the rollout in Spokane still have some continued difficulties, and I know you inherited this problem, and we certainly do appreciate your team's regular updates on this issue, but some problems still remain and we need to ensure that the VA addresses them quickly and effectively, especially with these go-live in Walla Walla and Ohio coming on this spring. And so, I just wanted to ask, how does the FY 23 request of $1.76 billion account for the ongoing issues we've seen in the rollout at Mann-Grandstaff and Walla Walla?"

Secretary McDonough -- "Let me just say publicly again, how much I appreciate the work of our team on the ground in Mann-Grandstaff. They've done really important work in helping the rest of us understand the nature of this challenge. Walla Walla is only 10 days in, but it's going actually on the higher end of expectations. It doesn't mean it's been flawless, but we're rolling and that's because we learned the lessons from Spokane, and the same will be true in Columbus at the end of this month, and then as we go to new facilities after that, but what we're going to do is let the data and the expertise drive this. We're not going to try to force some timeline."

Rep. Lee - "Back in my facilities, in the district, I've been hearing a lot of concerns and struggles with outdated infrastructure. This has resulted in difficulty in being able to deliver services to veterans, but also has opened up the VA to cyber vulnerabilities. And in fact, I recently just introduced a bill to improve cyber security … How does your budget request aim to secure these much-needed technological upgrades at the VA in advance of these further rollout?"

Secretary McDonough - "We're asking for 400 million dollars for cyber. It's an 80 million dollar increase over last year, so this is a very serious priority for us. We're obviously instituting the president's plan for us to get to zero trust architecture. We won't do that all in this budget, but we'll get a good ways down that chain ... We've had important but modest increases in infrastructure over the course the last couple of years. This includes important upgrades of the kind of material that you've had frustrations within your district. And importantly, the infrastructure modernization program is funded by this request as well."

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