Tech
VA Paid for But Didn't Deploy an Emergency Communications System
Despite spending over $8.5 million on a new emergency communication system contract, a new report has revealed that the Veterans Health Administration failed to establish the network by a deadline that passed more than three years ago.
Workforce
AFGE and VA Reach a Tentative Deal on a New Contract
The agreement comes just weeks after an arbitrator found that the Veterans Affairs Department engaged in bad faith bargaining with the federal employee union.
Management
The Veterans Benefits Administration is a Good Candidate for Tailored Reforms
Additional hiring flexibilities and compensation changes would allow the agency to respond faster to new legal requirements.
Workforce
Fixing Veterans' Preference Can Fix Federal Hiring
Angela Bailey and Jeffrey Neal join the podcast to discuss personnel modernization.
Workforce
The Federal Government Can Expand Opportunities for Veterans and Simplify Hiring, Too
A less complex hiring process that puts merit front and center would eliminate the need for most of the 102 or more hiring authorities currently in place.
Oversight
Veterans Affairs Committee Dems Offer Bills to Streamline VA Operations
The two proposals would seek to consolidate business functions at the agency and independently verify and validate IT modernization efforts.
Pay & Benefits
VA Will No Longer Use Its Marquee Civil Service Reform Law to Punish Employees
The Biden administration unwinds a key Trump legislative victory, citing a series of setbacks the law has endured.
Workforce
VA Is Hiring at a Record Rate. Employees Say It's Still Not Enough.
Nearly every VA employee thinks its facility is understaffed, according to a new survey, despite the department's unprecedented hiring spree.
Workforce
VA Claims Progress in Union Talks. The Union Begs to Differ.
AFGE officials say department management continues to push illegal proposals in contract negotiations, and that claims the parties have reached “tentative agreements” are fabricated.
Management
Veteran Deaths Lead Lawmakers to Call for VA to Renegotiate Oracle EHR Contract
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester said that VA should “negotiate an entirely new contract” with Oracle Cerner following the revelation that the EHR system has resulted in the deaths of four veterans.
Workforce
VA Broke Settlement Agreement, Continued Bad Faith Bargaining, Arbitrator Finds
The American Federation of Government Employees and the Veterans Affairs Department have negotiated fruitlessly over a new union contract for more than a year.
Defense
Why Combat Veterans Are Turning to Oxygen Therapy for PTSD
The unapproved and, to some, unproven treatment is attracting many PTSD patients for whom other treatments have failed.
Tech
VA Announces Winners of $20M Challenge to Prevent Veteran Suicides
The 10 winners of the VA’s Mission Daybreak challenge developed innovative solutions that leveraged technology, artificial intelligence and mobile apps to help reduce the number of veteran suicides.
Pay & Benefits
VA Docs Are One Step Closer to Earning More than $400K Annually
A Senate committee advanced a sweeping compensation overhaul for VA health care workers that would create a more market-based pay system.
Management
VA Says Its Renewed Infrastructure Review Will Focus on Building First
Closures could still come, but that will be a "secondary matter."
Defense
Homelessness Among Veterans Has Been Cut in Half since 2010, VA Says
In Texas, the number of homeless veterans has dropped 65% between 2007 and 2020, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers Agree It's Time to Lift the $400,000 Pay Cap for VA Doctors
The Biden administration has called the pay increases a top priority.
Pay & Benefits
Board Again Significantly Scales Back Marquee Federal Employee Firing Law
Tens of thousands of workers will no longer be eligible for expedited removal.
Oversight
VA Is Much Slower at Setting Appointments When Sending Vets to the Private Sector for Care
The department is failing to meet its less ambitious goals for health care appointments outside its own system.
Workforce