The Department of Veterans Affairs motto is to "care for him who shall have borne the battle." Since 1865, that's been the country's promise. But a new Inspector General report raises serious doubts about whether the VA has enough staff to keep it.

Washington

A recent Inspector General report has revealed significant staffing shortages across all 139 medical centers operated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, with the situation reportedly worsening by 50 percent over the past year. The report raises concerns about the VA's ability to fulfill its longstanding commitment to care for veterans, especially as voluntary departures and broader national shortages in healthcare workers continue to impact the system.

The VA has challenged the report's findings, arguing that the data is subjective and not standardized, and points to a nationwide shortage of medical professionals as a contributing factor. While proposals to expand access to non-VA care have been discussed, experts caution that broader shortages in healthcare personnel may limit the effectiveness of such measures. Solutions under consideration include increasing training for healthcare workers, diversifying the workforce, and leveraging technology to reduce administrative burdens.

New report raises alarm about staff shortage at Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs' motto is to care for him who shall have borne the battle. Since 1865, that's been the country's promise. But a new Inspector General report raises serious doubts about whether the VA has enough staff to keep it. Dr. Celine Gounder joins me now to explain what's going on here. So, Celine, we've heard the struggles of the VA for years now, but according to this report, it's actually gotten worse? This is serious and it's getting worse. The VA Inspector General estimates that across all 139 VA medical centers, there are severe staffing shortages. And these staffing shortages have gotten 50 percent worse over the last year. And this is even before we've seen the summer buyouts, people leaving voluntarily. So, things are probably even tighter at this moment. For its part, what's the VA got to say about this? Well, so we reached out to the VA and they do dispute the vacancy figures. They sent us a statement saying the report simply lists occupations facilities feel are difficult for which to recruit and retain. So the results are completely subjective, not standardized and unreliable. Secretary, the VA also defending this by saying there's a nationwide shortage of medical workers in general. Is that part of this whole thing here? Is that a factor? Well, that is true. There aren't enough doctors, clinicians to go around everywhere. And the U.S. is projected to be short about 86,000 physicians by 2036. Behavioral health and primary care are major areas of shortage across the country, as well as within the VA. There's a new plan in Congress to expand this access to non-VA care privatization that's been talked about before. Would that solve some of this? Would that help? Well, if you don't have enough doctors to go around outside the VA, that's going to add to some of the wait lists and those other external facilities. And it's not clear that that's really going to solve the situation for veterans. Is there any solution anywhere in sight? Very good question. You know, I think it's going to be a combination of how do we train more health care workers, diversify the workforce. And, you know, there's a lot of talk about tech solutions to help offload some of the administrative burden. So to be continued.

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