VA hospitals are finding it harder to fill jobs, watchdog says

Key Points

• The VA's Office of Inspector General reported a 50% increase in severe staffing shortages at government-run medical centers for veterans, particularly affecting positions like doctors and nurses.
• Despite the VA's claims that vacancy rates are within historical averages, 94% of facilities reported shortages for medical officer roles, which includes doctors.
• Democratic lawmakers voiced concerns that staffing issues could impede veterans' access to health care, with warnings that waiting times for appointments could increase.
• Following the announcement of job cuts, the VA terminated collective bargaining agreements for most employees, which may further complicate recruitment and retention efforts.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Government-run medical centers serving the nation's veterans have reported an increase in severe staffing shortages, with many hospitals having trouble filling jobs for doctors, nurses and psychologists, according to an independent watchdog for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Tuesday's report from the VA's Office of Inspector General is based on surveys from late March and early April that were taken at 139 Veterans Health Administration facilities. Severe staffing shortages are not necessarily an indication of vacancies but refer to particular occupations that are difficult to fill.

The surveys were taken just weeks after it was reported in early March that the VA had planned to cut 80,000 jobs — out of 484,000 — through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. The VA later reduced the figure to nearly 30,000 jobs to be cut by this fiscal year’s end on Sept. 30.

President Donald Trump's administration said Tuesday that the surveys are unreliable because they do not reflect actual vacancies, which VA officials said were in line with historical averages. But Democratic lawmakers warned that veterans won't get the health care they need as VA positions become harder to fill.

The surveys reflected a 50% increase in the reporting of severe staffing shortages for specific jobs, both for clinical occupations that include doctors and psychologists and for non-clinical jobs that include police and custodial workers.

Nearly all of the facilities — 94% — reported a shortage for medical officer occupations that include doctors, while 79% reported shortages for nurses. The report noted that severe shortages for medical officers and nurses have been identified every year in the report since 2014.

Pete Kasperowicz, the VA's press secretary, stressed in an email that the report is not based on vacancies and is therefore “not a reliable indicator of staffing shortages.”

“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,” Kasperowicz wrote.

He said that vacancy rates for doctors and nurses are 14% and 10%, respectively, which he said are lower than most other health care systems and in line with “normal VA historical averages.”

But Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the surveys reflect the Trump administration's profound hostility toward the federal workforce and what she said are its plans to ultimately privatize the VA.

“This is a deliberate effort to incapacitate and to undermine veterans' support for and approval of the care they receive in VA hospitals and clinics,” Simon said. “They’ll have to wait much longer for appointments. There won’t be specialists available. They’ll have no choice but to go to the private sector.”

Simon also noted the VA’s announcement last week that it was terminating collective bargaining agreements for most VA bargaining-unit employees, which could further hurt recruitment.

The VA said in a news release that the move will “make it easier for VA leaders to promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America’s Veterans.”

But U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said in a news release Tuesday that the Trump administration has made it harder for public servants to do their jobs “and ultimately harder for veterans to get the care they’ve earned.”

“We also know from recent jobs reports that applications to work at the VA are plummeting," said Warner, a Democrat who represents the veteran-dense state of Virginia. “How do skyrocketing staffing shortages and declining applicant pools make it more ‘efficient’ for veterans to access the care and services they deserve? The answer is: they don’t.”