Posted on 02/20/2019 6:03:28 PM PST by mdittmar
WASHINGTON – On Friday, February 15, the Department of Veterans Affairs quietly posted that the agency now has 48,985 unfilled vacancies – up nearly 4,000 since the VA started posting vacancy totals in August 2018. The muted rollout of the data – which is only tracked and posted because of a push for transparency from the American Federation of Government Employees – follows Secretary Robert Wilkie’s recent announcement that the Department is outsourcing care and funding from the already short-staffed and underfunded agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at afge.org ...
Just for the record: money for outsourced care for veterans is not coming from the VA’s funds. After the Phoenix VA scandal, Congress created the very soon to be defunct CHOICE Act, which is being replaced by the MISSION Act. CHOICE and MISSION funds are separate from VA funds. Individual VA hospitals cannot “borrow” CHOICE/MISSION funds to cover the hospital’s operating expenses. Sadly, because CHOICE was such a red tape administrative nightmare, some money earmarked for CHOICE never gets used. Hopefully, Mission will do a better job at what it was intended for: healthcare for veterans.
That's why the union is crying.
Great! Go recruit a bunch of your likeminded friends to fill all those vacancies.
PJDT ran partly on improving the VA: maybe right now is getting rid of the deadwood, and the deadwood is complaining.
Glad to hear even govt. workers are named among us FReepers: but I have some extended family members who don’t share your work ethic, hint hint.
I can’t stand thieving, whineyass union thugs. They’re always whining about something like a bunch of little kids.
The VA is a PRIME example of why we need to get rid of public workers unions.
Reduction of union membership followed by repealing laws forcing employees to join a union to get a government position is a great plan.
If unions are so good for workers, they will willingly pay dues for the union services.
JoMa
I posted that because I’m a combat vet with experience at VA facilities since 1972. Your stupid analogy of a car dealership and Sherman tank factory shows how ill-informed and ignorant you are. Most of the VA doctors I saw were foreigners who couldn’t give a damn about us. Pi$$ off jerk!
For the record, Sir, I am (1) female.....so that's MS. JERK to you. (b) ALSO a vet (399th Combat Support Hospital, 1985-1998) who currently works at the VA and (c) perhaps somewhat more intelligent than you if the Sherman Tank analogy is above your comprehension.
Let me explain, using small words: A Sherman Tank and my Nissan Murano are both tools used to first move people to where they need to be while providing a degree of protection from their environment (whatever the "environment" may be) while doing so; and second, to carry out their specialized missions after their humans have arrived where they need to be, missions being artillery vs groceries. (In case it's not obvious, the Murano does the groceries, the Tank does the artillery /sarc ).
I would no more expect the Sherman Tank people to do an oil change on my Murano than I would expect a civilian general practitioner to have any expertise or comfort level with treating PTSD or Agent orange, combat illnesses or injuries, even things like tropical medicine illnesses not found in the US but brought back by some of our overseas deployed vets. Likewise, I would not want a cardiologist trying to operate on my broken ankle.
From the time frame you mentioned of 1972, I'm guessing you are a Vietnam era veteran who was not welcomed home warmly, something for which our country owes you and many others like you a huge apology. Your bitterness towards people who were ugly and hurtful to you back then is fully justified and appropriate. I never pass up a chance to say to a Vietnam vet, "welcome home, and thank you for your service and sacrifice." If I had the power to change just one thing in history, it would be that.
However, in 1972, I was 6 years old, and not one of the people who treated you so unkindly. You need to direct your bitterness and anger in the right direction. It is not me, and it is not the VA. If you don't believe the VA treats you in the way you deserve and have earned, you have other options for healthcare.....one of the greatest freedoms we have is freedom of choice. You can choose to not utilize VA healthcare if your experiences have been poor, or to go to a different VA or a different care team within your local VA, or involve your Patient Advocate or Congressman.....you have options even within VA to address any challenges you run into. Do they always work? No. Do they sometimes work? Yes. If you dislike your civilian doctor, you have one option: go elsewhere, even if "elsewhere" isn;t in your insurance network. But for you to suggest cutting VA off for all (many of whom on this very thread have posted about their extremely positive experiences) wouldn't be very good for those who don't live close to some other healthcare, or those who love their VA providers, or don't have any other insurance, etc.
I TRULY hope one day that you find someone at VA who will help you. It is its own maze of red tape, but many, many, many of us on the inside will bend over backwards to help a vet who is struggling with the system. As previously stated, "I made a difference for this one."
I wish you well and hope you are able to find happiness in the future. Thank you again for your service, and welcome home. You are one of our country's unsung heroes.
Grey.....I’m sorry, but I’m still dumbfounded that you are neither a veteran nor a VA employee, and you threw an entire VA system under the bus based on the work ethics of your extended family members? Perhaps they are not the best example of the majority of very dedicated professionals in the VA system. Just sayin’.....
I started a longer post this morning about my personal interactions with AFGE, but wanted to percolate a bit on that before discussing on here. I'm still thinking it through.
I believe that unions have become obsolete and now are only unnecessary parasites in our society and economy. And even more so in government, most especially education.
I say, “If you don’t like the way business is run where you work, quit and get a job where you believe you will be paid better or whatever. And if you don’t think you are paid enough in your government job, go get a job in the real economy along with a big bite of a reality sandwich.”
I, myself, have chosen to run my own business.
It used to be that public service was honorable though it paid less than careers in the rest of the economy. Now public service jobs have become the brass ring of careers. Only lately has socialism, or rather government careers, become risky as the pensions are unsupported. That’s the problem with socialism, it’s great at first, but eventually you run out of other peoples money.
Well, I guess the solution is government-run health care
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