Dozens of top VA staffers leave. Just 'minor personnel issues,' the Trump administration insists.

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/3/1761721/-Dozens-of-top-VA-staffers-leave-Just-minor-personnel-issues-the-Trump-administration-insists

Dozens of top VA staffers leave. Just 'minor personnel issues,' the Trump administration insists.
Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Thursday May 03, 2018 · 12:30 PM EDT


The Department of Veterans Affairs has lost nearly 40 senior staffers already in 2018—but don’t worry, the Trump administration says that the people who left didn’t matter and “Any attempt to characterize this small handful of departures and minor personnel issues as having a significant impact on VA’s operations is simply fake news.”

Minor personnel issues?

The departures, not counting former department head David Shulkin, include the acting chief information officer (currently being replaced by someone named in a massive harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit), the chief spokeswoman for the VA’s health system, the head of the Veterans Health Administration, the acting deputy undersecretary for health and community care, 10 people in the human resources department, the head of strategic partnerships, and five regional health system directors.

Staff and veterans advocates say the loss of talent and institutional knowledge is impeding efforts to address significant challenges, from reducing the rate of suicide among former military personnel to modernizing VA’s antiquated record-keeping system and eliminating its backlog of benefits appeals. Two high-stakes initiatives also have stalled: legislation to expand veterans’ access to health care outside VA’s network, and a $16 billion contract to synchronize veterans’ medical records with systems operated by the Defense Department and private providers. [...]

“It is not normal,” said Rep. Tim Walz (Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The precedent has been to have “a lot of continuity in these positions,” but the Trump administration is intent on “dismantling the agency,” he added. “I worry about institutional knowledge. Who wants to work there now?”

No one. That’s the point. This isn’t even some new Trump administration tactic, it’s a longtime Republican one: they break the government so they can claim the government doesn’t work. Privatization of veterans health is the whole point here, and it’s going to be a disaster.

[pandr32]

1. Already seeing the effects

Damn shame. We need to sweep this entire administration and all Republicans into the sewers where they belong. Bloddy disgraceful..

[left-of-center2012]

2. "they break the government so they can claim the government doesn't work"

That's what they did to the Post Office, and why it's always 'in debt'.

[procon]

3. When they finish breaking apart all the normal functions of government, then what?

What's left, what grand vision does the GOP have once no one is left in all the agencies with the education, training and knowledge to perform anything more than basic clerical tasks? Are they trying to take us back to the dark ages with a patriarchal theocracy, an anarchist's playground, some brutal fascist dictatorship, or a fantasy libertarian utopia, maybe a squalid medieval feudal system?

I just don't get it; what's their goal?

[lpbk2713]

4. Meanwhile, Trump supports the troops.

As long as he can use them for a photo op.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

5. No no no no

These are NOT insignificant "minor personnel" problems. They indicate a systemic toxic environment in the VA courtesy of the current administration. Having once worked for a federal agency (PHS), I can tell you the loss of this many senior staffers is deeply disturbing. Not only to the agency's continuity, but to the continued mission, cross-agency cooperation, and the loss of what we call "institutional memory," which is something only someone who has been at the agency for a long time will have been able to accumulate, and sometimes that knowledge is priceless. Not to mention the tremendous negative impact this creates on morale all the way down to the last hire.

Second point. "The legislation to expand Veterans access to health care outside of the VA network" is referring directly to the CHOICE Program that trump wants so badly to implement toward his goal of privatizing the VA. A few things to know about the CHOICE Program. As someone who has been FORCED to use it, it redefines the expression "cluster-fuck." The experiences I have had were an unmitigated nightmare. No one knew what they were doing: paperwork and documentation necessary for appointments and procedures was never correct, medications were improperly filled, protocols were not up to standard and on at least one occasion, my health was jeopardized by people who did not know what the fuck they were supposed to be doing in the first place.

And something crucial that most people don't know about the CHOICE Program, because the Administration does not talk about this, is that the CHOICE Program runs on continuing resolutions that must be renewed EVERY SIX MONTHS. That means, that the budget for the program must be constantly renewed. When trump shut down the government a while ago, there was no CR put in place to fund the program. They had to scramble and play catch up to plug that hole before the program ran out of funds. Right now, CHOICE expires (again) in the middle of June. Of 2018. There is already concern on the Hill about whether or not the funds will last that long. Then, Congress will need to fund another CR to cover the costs for the next six months.

This is NOT the way funds for Veterans health care should be administered. It is a situation ripe for hostage. Does anyone trust this administration to safeguard this program ??

Additionally, there are physicians, technicians and labs across this nation who have not been reimbursed by the CHOICE program for months and have had to either stop accepting new VA patients or caring for Veteran patients they currently treat. Does this sound like a program that guarantees "The Best" health care for the country's Veterans ??

I have real concerns about the VA right now and I, for one, DO NOT TRUST the Oval Office to protect and adequately cover the costs of the care that all of us have rightfully earned by serving our Nation.

Honor, Courage, Commitment - words trump can NEVER understand.

SEMPER FORTIS.

[Cha]

6. LIARS in the White House