Martha Roby: VA “Takeover” bill gets hearing
As someone who represents a district with a high concentration of veterans, an important part of my job in Congress is making sure national Department of Veterans Affairs leaders pay attention to Alabama and remain focused on improving the long-troubled Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. We certainly got their attention last year. Working with courageous whistleblowers and the press, we were able to expose major instances of misconduct, negligence and cover-up that led to the director of the Central Alabama VA being the first manager terminated for cause under the new VA reform law. That was just over a year ago, and since then, our efforts to work with VA leaders to overhaul the system and improve access to care have been frustrating to say the least. Out of this frustration came an important lesson: we cannot depend on a broken bureaucracy to fix itself. I believe one major problem is that for a year we had been asking for VA leaders to intervene at this troubled system, rather than requiring them to. I believe it’s time to change that, which is why I filed legislation that would compel top VA officials to intervene and take over failing VA medical centers. It’s called the Failing VA Medical Center Recovery Act, and it offers the VA new tools to turn around the worst of our health care centers. Further, it puts responsibility for doing so squarely on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I recently presented my VA “takeover” bill before a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, where I discussed the legislation with fellow lawmakers, representatives from the VA and other interested groups. Not surprisingly, some entrenched in the system weren’t welcoming to a bill that disrupts the status quo. Still, I appreciate their willingness to engage, and I remain hopeful that they will embrace this legislation as a powerful new tool for improving veterans’ health care services. I am willing to work with anyone who truly wants to improve the VA through this proposal or others. But, let me tell you what I’m not willing to do: I’m not willing to let my bill become a victim of the VA’s culture of complacency. Minor tweaks here and there aren’t going to cut it. We need wholesale change, and the veterans I represent know it. I am cautiously optimistic about the future prospects for the Central Alabama VA. The numbers have been improving in recent months and a new, permanent director will soon be selected to bring needed stability. I’m working to bridge the gap between the VA and the local medical community to make sure we have a strong network of local providers where veterans can access care quickly and without driving long distances. I will keep you updated on this progress as we go. Martha Roby represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. She is currently serving her third term.
Martha Roby: Breaking the bureaucracy
This week the U.S. House passed H.R. 1994, the VA Accountability Act, to empower the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with the legal authority to swiftly remove problem employees at all levels. You may recall that Congress passed a bill last year similarly empowering the Secretary to remove bad actors, but that legislation only authorized him to fire senior officials. Under this law, the former Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) director became the first official terminated, but as I said at the time, blame for all of the misconduct and mismanagement did not rest with one person alone. This bill is important in solving some of the broader problems the VA has had with accountability nationwide. However, more acute problems still exist at particularly troubled VA facilities that I believe require more specific action. While the director in Central Alabama was rightly removed this past August, the system has continued to struggle. Recently, VA medical centers in Montgomery and Tuskegee were identified as worst and second worst, respectively, in the nation for delays in patient appointment completions. Communication and coordination between various levels of management are still badly out of sync at a time when we can least afford it. And, VA leadership continues to point to the various layers of bureaucracy for why problems persist. That’s why this week I introduced legislation that would break through the bureaucracy and require top VA leaders to come in and take over failing systems, like Central Alabama. My bill, H.R. 3234, the Failing VA Medical Center Recovery Act, compels top VA leadership to send a “rapid response team” to take over our worst facilities and turn them around. This is the anti-bureaucracy. This is the team no complacent VA employee wants to see coming because they know the status quo is about to get shaken up. Much like the threat of a “takeover” of a failing school by the state superintendent, this puts VA medical centers on notice that we will no longer tolerate their incompetence on behalf of our veterans. Under my bill, determination of a failing facility would be based strictly on data — not media coverage or the opinion of the Secretary. And, the takeover trigger would be automatic, not optional or based on the whims of Washington. The House was right to empower the VA Secretary with the authority to enforce greater accountability. Now, we need to require him to use it to intervene at our worst performing facilities. That’s what the Failing VA Medical Center Recovery Act does, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this legislation in the coming weeks and months. Martha Roby represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. She is in her third term.
Martha Roby, “tired of asking” for veteran care reform, calls for VA “takeover” of failing medical centers
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby introduced a bill that would force the federal Veterans’ Administration to do something she has asked them to do for a long time: intervene when regional medical centers show they are unable to adequately care for American military veterans. Roby’s new proposal — H.R. 3234, dubbed the “Failing VA Medical Center Recovery Act” — calls for a “rapid response team of managers and medical professionals” to deploy to failing centers directly. “I believe the problem is we have been depending on a broken bureaucracy to fix itself,” said Roby in a prepared statement Monday. “I believe it’s time to change that by breaking through the bureaucracy to get results on behalf of our veterans.” “This is the ‘anti-bureaucracy.’ This is the team no complacent VA employee wants to see coming because they know that the status quo is about to get shaken up.” Roby represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, where the state’s VA medical centers in Montgomery and Tuskegee have been identified as the nation’s worst and second worst, respectively. The third-term Republican said she will not allow inefficiencies in the “sprawling VA bureaucracy” that provides poor service to veterans stand any longer. “The determination of a failing medical center will be based on data, not the Secretary’s whim or what media attention it is garnering,” Roby said Monday. “My bill sets up an automatic trigger that compels the VA to act under the law. “I’m glad the [Veterans’ Affairs] Secretary [Robert McDonald] used his authority to take control of the situation in Phoenix. But, why not Montgomery? Why not Tuskegee? Why not come and take control of the worst and second worst situation in the country, especially after we have repeatedly asked and pleaded him to do so? “I’m tired of asking, and that’s why my bill requires the VA to step in and take charge.” See Roby’s House floor speech where she formally introduced the bill below.
