The Hampton VA has lost at least one psychologist to another Veterans Health Administration hospital, because the clinician did not want to relocate to Hampton Roads.
This happened after the VA ended most telework, says Sheila Elliott, former president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2328.
Elliott spoke Tuesday before the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach).
“This has harmed morale and retention of mission-critical and hard-to-recruit clinicians at the VA,” Elliott said. “This has negatively affected retention at Hampton, and reflects VA's overly broad approach to telework and telehealth.”
After the VA ordered most staff to work from a VA facility, some clinicians are now working in crowded “bullpens” where it is difficult to keep information private, she said.
Elliot told Congress that the North Battlefield Clinic in Chesapeake opened in April with only 27 percent of its staff. One of the reasons that hiring is taking longer is because human resources staff was centralized at the regional level.
“They do not understand the needs of the local VA,” she said.
Kiggans pushed back, saying dental and pharmacy services came on line this month, as part of a phased opening, with more services scheduled to come on line in January.
VA has recently announced it is backing away from a plan to fire up to 80,000 workers. Instead, VA Secretary Doug Collins has said the administration is on track to have 30,000 people leave by the end of September as part of voluntary reduction.
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, of Illinois, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, said there has been an overall "sharp decline in both recruitment and retention” at the VA since the beginning of the Trump administration. Job applicants are down 45% from the year before and new hiring is down 56% since 2024.
Witnesses raised questions about the lack of oversight of a VA program to offer recruitment, retention, and relocation bonuses or incentive payments to staff. The payments are designed to compensate for higher pay offered by the private sector. The VA Inspector General found the VA has not adequately documented who receives the payments. Some employees received payments for years after they were scheduled to sunset.
