Latest news with #ChristopherSyrek
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Cutbacks Hurt Our Military Health System. Is The VA Next?
On March 4, Christopher Syrek, the Chief of Staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), informed his senior colleagues of a DOGE-devised plan for large-scale cutbacks at the agency that provides health care and other vital services to millions of veterans. The following day, the Associated Press cited an internal memo that indicates that 80,000 jobs - roughly 15% of the VA's workforce - are slated for elimination. More than 25% of VA employees are veterans. On March 6, VA Secretary Doug Collins asserted that the plan is a 'pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy, increasing efficiency and improving health care, benefits, and services to veterans.' He promised to 'accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries.' His remarks were published in The Hill. Recently, Russell Lernie and Suzanne Gordon, two senior policy analysts with the nonpartisan Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute, disputed Collins' depiction of VA healthcare. 'That's just not true,' they wrote in 'VHA [Veterans Health Administration] As I pondered the potential impact of the VA's plan, I recalled how in Trump's first term, cutbacks and outsourcing hurt our military health system. Is the VA next? During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military medicine devised and swiftly deployed a stunning series of innovations that cut the death rate from severe battlefield wounds in half, to the lowest level in the history of warfare. It is one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of American Medicine. Unfortunately, when the conflicts wound down, this success did not protect the MHS. Critics alleged that stateside military treatment facilities (MTFs) cost too much, deliver care of uneven quality, and do not attract enough complex cases to maintain the skills of military doctors and nurses between deployments. They urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to outsource more care to the private sector. Three months after Trump took office in 2017, I published a commentary in Health Affairs Forefront that cited strong evidence of the MHS's quality, efficiency and value. Instead of rethinking their assumptions, DoD advocates of outsourcing plowed ahead. Shortly thereafter, the Pentagon directed military retirees and the families of servicemembers, two large groups of beneficiaries who had long valued care in the MHS, to go elsewhere for treatment. As visits and admissions to military treatment facilities declined, the DoD downsized or closed a number of military clinics and hospitals and reduced military health manpower by thousands of positions. As purchased care costs climbed, additional money was pulled from military hospitals and staff. This left once-busy MTFs like Walter Reed National Military Medical Center half empty and understaffed. As the impact of outsourcing mounted, the Joint Chiefs of Staff worried that it was degrading the MHS's ability to meet its wartime mission. In a Dec 6, 2023 memo to DoD leadership entitled, 'Stabilizing and Improving the Military Health System,' Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks ordered a change in course. 'Realignment of medical personnel, coupled with a challenging health care economy and ambitious private sector care capacity assumptions, led to chronically understaffed [hospitals and clinics] that at times cannot deliver timely care to beneficiaries or ensure sufficient workload to maintain and sustain clinical skills" She wrote. "As a result, beneficiaries are routinely referred to the private sector for services that [the MHS] should be able to deliver, with the Military Departments increasingly turning to the private sector for clinical skills sustainment opportunities for uniformed medical personnel. This has resulted in increasing overall health care costs for the Department and missing readiness opportunities for the Force.' To rebuild the MHS, DEPSEC Hicks directed that actions be taken to 'reattract beneficiaries' to MTFs and increase staffing to '…support the National Defense Strategy, increase clinical readiness, mitigate risks to [military] VA healthcare has formidable strengths. Thirteen years ago, I wrote: 'Early on, it embraced many of the attributes that characterize our nation's top-performing private healthcare systems: It was an early adopter of an interoperable electronic health record; it has strong affiliations with the nation's top medical schools; it regularly measures and applies quality data, and it has a salaried medical staff that is well-aligned with the agency's mission.' Korea and Vietman War Veterans getty The VA generally delivers care that is safer and less costly than private-sector healthcare. That's because private-sector doctors tend to over-test and over-treat to boost clinical revenue. In their commentary, Lernie and Hall observed that the 'The private sector performs more 'guideline discordant,' 'questionable' and 'low-value' tests than the VHA, which then lead to more unnecessary services downstream, higher health-care costs and potential harm to the patient.' This happens, they explained, because 'With lax oversight, private-sector, fee-for-service incentives drive overtreatment and profit-seeking that isn't permitted in the VHA.' Pushing more vets into private-sector care, which already costs the VA $36 billion per year, doesn't make much sense. What supporters of outsourcing government healthcare fail to understand is that private healthcare in the U.S. is not a 'system,' it's a thicket. Navigating it is a challenge, even for well-connected physicians seeking care for themselves or their families. In recent years, many independent practices have been bought by venture capitalists whose focus is on maximizing profits, not high-quality care. I'm sure Secretary Collins wants the best for veterans. At the Tucson VA last week, he described the planned 15% reduction as a 'goal, not a guarantee," according to the Arizona Daily Star. Hopefully, veterans advocacy groups and their allies in Congress can convince the Trump administration to rethink its plans. It will not only help vets—a powerful constituency that holds a special place in the hearts of most Americans—it will help American healthcare. Each year, large numbers of medical and nursing students, resident physicians and other health professionals-in-training get valuable clinical training in VA Medical Centers. The VA's motto is "To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.'' May it always be so.
Voice of America
06-03-2025
- Business
- Voice of America
Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 jobs at Veterans Affairs, memo says
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top-level officials at the agency Tuesday that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act. The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to "resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure." It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House's Department of Government Efficiency to "move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach" to the Trump administration's goals. Government Executive first reported on the internal memo. "Things need to change," Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a video posted on social media Wednesday afternoon, adding that the layoffs would not mean cuts to veterans' health care or benefits. "This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want," Collins said. "President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that's exactly what we're going to deliver at the VA." Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA's workforce is comprised of veterans. The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration's DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president "refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans' ability to receive timely and quality care." She added that the changes would "ensure greater efficiency and transparency" at the VA. The VA last year experienced its highest-ever service levels, reaching over 9 million enrollees and delivering more than 127.5 million health care appointments, according to the agency's figures. However, Michael Missal, who was the VA's inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump's sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of "expertise" as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president's plans. "What's going to happen is VA's not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed," said Missal, who was a guest of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. at Trump's Tuesday address to Congress. In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration's changes. Rep. Mike Bost, the Republican chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he would "continue to ask questions and keep a close eye on how, or if, this plan evolves." "I have questions about the impact these reductions and discussions could have on the delivery of services, especially following the implementation of the PACT Act," Bost added. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Republican chair of the Senate Budget Committee, was displeased the VA had not given lawmakers an advance notification of the changes, saying it was "political malpractice not to consult Congress." "Maybe you've got a good reason to do it," he said. "But we don't need to be reading memos in the paper about a 20% cut at the VA." The changes underway at the VA are already prompting worry among veterans groups as they face layoffs and confusion about whether their services will be affected. Brent Reiffer, a Marine veteran who receives medical care through the VA and advocates with the Wounded Warrior Project, said that among his community "confusion that leads to frustration" is setting in. "If you draw that to a conclusion sometimes, it's the veteran just throws the hands up and sort of doesn't go to the VA," Reiffer said. "What you end up with is a lot of veterans that are not getting the care that they deserve." Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran's affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration "has launched an all-out assault" against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits. "Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans' care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It's a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality," Blumenthal said in a statement. Democratic leaders in the House also spotlighted the impact of Trump's cuts on veterans Wednesday. Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 ranked in House Democratic leadership, said at a news conference, "Democrats are here to say in unison we will not allow our veterans to be defined as government waste."
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration to cut more than 80,000 jobs at Department of Veterans Affairs, internal memo says
Mar. 5—WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to cut more than 80,000 jobs in the next six months as part of the Trump administration's effort to dramatically downsize the federal workforce, according to an internal memo sent to staff on Tuesday. The memo, obtained by The Spokesman-Review and first reported by the trade publication Government Executive on Tuesday, came from Christopher Syrek, the VA chief of staff. He directed the agency to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the ad hoc team assembled by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and empowered by President Donald Trump to carry out mass layoffs and root out what Musk has called "evil" government programs. "VA, in partnership with our DOGE leads, will move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach to identify and eliminate waste, reduce management and bureaucracy, reduce footprint, and increase workforce efficiency," the memo reads in part, adding that a "thorough review of mission and structure" will precede agency-wide layoffs in August "to resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure." The memo lays out a timeline for the so-called "reduction in force," beginning with a Wednesday meeting to be chaired by VA Secretary Doug Collins. In an attachment, it asks for organizational charts and other information on staffing by March 10, to be followed by internal reviews in each office by April 10, a department-wide review by May 9 and the publication of a reorganization plan in June. "This effort will require the entirety of VA staff and organizations to work together in a collaborative fashion, as well as to coordinate actions with DOGE and the Administration as a whole, to achieve the desired results within the allotted time," Syrek wrote, adding that the "initial objective" is to reduce staffing to the 2019 level of just below 400,000. The VA currently employs roughly 482,000 people, the vast majority of whom work in the Veterans Health Administration's nearly 1,400 clinics and hospitals, so hitting the Trump administration's target would mean more than 80,000 job losses, a cut of about 17%. The department's 2019 staffing level preceded a hiring surge aimed at reducing wait times for VA health care and supporting a major expansion of benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances after Congress passed the bipartisan Honoring Our PACT Act in 2022. More than a quarter of VA employees are veterans themselves, according to the latest data from the Office of Personnel Management. The department, which employs more people than any other federal agency, has so far seen proportionally smaller cuts to its workforce, even as thousands of VA workers have lost their jobs. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump adviser Alina Habba pushed back on criticism of the administration's mass firing of veterans, who make up about 30% of the federal workforce. "We care about veterans tremendously," Habba said. "But at the same time, we have taxpayer dollars — we have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work. That doesn't mean that we forget our veterans by any means. We are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they're not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work." Link Miles, local president of the union that represents VA doctors and other health care providers at Spokane's Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, said the cuts will accelerate the VA's increasing reliance on sending veterans to private-sector health care providers, who already don't have the capacity to care for Inland Northwest veterans promptly. "It doesn't make sense," said Miles, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1641. "I'd like to see an analysis of data that supports the cutting of nearly 20% of the workforce while still effectively meeting the agency's goals and mission to provide care. Significant personnel cuts seem to directly ignore the VA's challenges of access to care by veterans and hiring and retaining personnel to provide services veterans need." Miles added that the faulty computer system the VA began testing in Spokane in 2020 has resulted in 30% greater workload for providers and other employees, and reducing the workforce will only compound the challenges faced by veterans, who have more complex health problems than the average American. Jake Pannell, a disabled Army veteran from Idaho and NFFE's national business representative, said the proposed cuts are "a direct threat to the quality of care our veterans depend on." "The VA is already short 40,000 to 50,000 workers, and with the PACT Act expanding eligibility, the demand for care is only growing," said Pannell, who worked as a mental health counselor at the VA clinic in Lewiston, Idaho, until taking on his new role in November. "Slashing 15% of the workforce will make it nearly impossible to keep our promise to those who served. There are plenty of ways to cut fraud, waste, and abuse without gutting the staff that keeps the VA running. Our nation's most valuable resource are the people who show up every day to serve our veterans. Removing them will not fix the problem, only compound it." Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who sits on the Senate VA Committee, raged against the proposed cuts in a statement released Wednesday. "Donald Trump and Elon Musk are escalating their full-scale, no-holds-barred assault on veterans — and putting the health care and benefits they have earned in grave danger," she said. "It's infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on. It's flat-out immoral and a breach of the sacred commitment we make to our veterans to take care of them when they return home." Ken Kizer, who led a transformation of the Veterans Health Administration in the late 1990s, said in an interview that even if there were good reason to eliminate certain positions at the VA, starting by identifying the number of jobs to eliminate is "just a back-asswards way of approaching the problem." "It's potentially devastating to veterans' care," Kizer said, pointing out that the VA is already "critically understaffed in a number of different personnel categories that directly bear on care that's provided." As undersecretary for health in the Clinton administration, Kizer said, he significantly reduced staffing in some parts of the department. "By making very thoughtful reductions and streamlining things where it made sense," he said, "we were able to increase the number of caregivers who were providing hands-on care. But it took time and required being very thoughtful and strategic about how it was done." "The idea of taking such a dramatic, potentially devastating meat-axe to the VA health care system just doesn't make a lot of sense." Kizer, who led a "red team" of experts commissioned by the VA in 2024 to produce a report on the state of the department's Community Care program, which sends veterans outside the VA for care in the private sector, said that in many parts of the country, the "community" of non-VA clinics and hospitals doesn't have the capacity to handle an influx of new patients, especially those with the complex health conditions that many veterans have related to their military service. The department also plays an important role in training the nation's medical and nursing students, about half of whom rotate through VA facilities during their education, Kizer pointed out. "The private sector is severely understaffed in many parts of the country," he said. "And so if VA downsizes and is unable to conduct its training function, that's going to have substantial ripple effects throughout the entire health care enterprise in this country." He added that the VA's "fourth mission" of supporting emergency preparedness and disaster response around the country would also be weakened by staffing cuts. Collins, the VA secretary, has told Congress he intends to accelerate the rollout of the new electronic health record system that was first launched in the Inland Northwest, where it contributed to thousands of cases of patient harm according to the VA's own data. Doing that while simultaneously cutting the department's workforce, Kizer said, "is lunacy." Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Plans Mass Purge of VA as Veterans Suffer Yet Again
The Department of Government Efficiency's slashing of the federal workforce is disproportionately hurting veterans, and the damage is only going to get worse. According to a March 4 memo first obtained by Government Executive, the Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to lay off as many as 83,000 employees. The Trump administration wants the department to get its workforce back to 2019 levels, when the VA employed 399,957 people and before millions of veterans became eligible for greater care. More than one in four VA employees are veterans. The 'aggressive' cuts will 'resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure,' VA chief of staff Christopher Syrek wrote in the memo, which was sent to employees on Tuesday. The department is expected to deliver its plans to 'increase workforce efficiency' to the Office of Personnel Management by April 14. Employment at the VA increased significantly under Biden with the passing of the 2022 PACT Act, which expanded health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxins and was the result of years' worth of advocacy from various veteran organizations. DOGE couldn't care less. The pseudo-agency's plan to fire 17 percent of the VA's workforce is just the latest move in its assault on veterans and, more broadly, the federal government. Last month, DOGE laid off 2,400 VA employees and more than 6,000 veterans from other federal agencies. DOGE also sought to terminate 875 affected contracts at the VA, which would significantly harm veterans' access to health care services. The cuts have been temporarily suspended, but will likely resurface.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump administration to cut 80,000 VA employees, according to memo
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning an 'aggressive' reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act. The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to 'resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.' It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House's Department of Government Efficiency to 'move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach' to the Trump administration's goals. TRENDING STORIES: Man meeting Gwinnett County teens with luxury gifts banned from schools Storms bring down trees, knock power out for thousands Couple charged with child abuse in Paulding County Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA, which so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA's workforce are veterans themselves. In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration's changes. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran's affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration 'has launched an all-out assault' against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits. 'Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans' care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It's a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,' Blumenthal said in a statement. Government Executive first reported on the internal memo. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
