WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) today welcomed the news that the Veterans Health Administration (VA) is moving to voluntarily implement one of the key proposals from their bipartisan Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act, helping to ensure that veterans can get the care they need in a timely fashion at VA facilities.
Specifically, the new VA proposal would allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to provide health care services to the full extent of their practice authority. This will make it easier for the VA to find enough medical professionals to fill the need for health care services for veterans, particularly for primary care services and in rural areas.
“Our veterans have stood up for us, and we must stand up for them,” said Merkley. “Long wait times for health care at the VA put veterans’ health in jeopardy and are unacceptable. I’m pleased that the VA has taken this first step forward. I look forward to working with Senators on both sides of the aisle to move forward on our other common-sense ideas to improve VA health care staffing and cut down on wait times for our veterans.”
“Me complace que VA reconozca la necesidad de reducir los trámites burocráticos innecesarios que impiden que nuestros veteranos reciban atención adecuada y oportuna”, dijo Rounds. “Al aliviar las restricciones innecesarias impuestas a los APRN dentro del sistema VA, los veteranos en Dakota del Sur y en todo el país tendrán un mayor acceso a la atención médica y podrán recibir esa atención más cerca de casa. Agradezco a mis colegas en el Senado que trabajaron conmigo para corregir esta política equivocada y espero trabajar con VA para ver cómo se implementa”.
“Not long ago, the VA medical center in Hampton, Va., had one of the longest wait times in the nation for veterans attempting to access the care they have earned,” said Sen. Warner. “In my repeated visits to that hospital and other VA facilities in my state, I’ve heard from local VA leadership again and again about their staffing challenges. Allowing qualified APRNs to practice to the full extent of their medical authority is an important, commonsense step that will assist the Department of Veterans Affairs in meeting patient needs, especially in rural areas. In Congress, we must continue looking for bipartisan, cost-effective solutions to help ease hiring of qualified medical personnel at the VA so we can do better by all of our men and women who have worn the uniform.”
“Los veteranos de todo el país continúan enfrentando tiempos de espera inaceptables para recibir incluso los servicios de atención médica más básicos”, dijo Tillis. “Me complace ver que VA ha dado un paso proactivo para abordar los tiempos de espera y los problemas de personal mediante la implementación de nuestra propuesta bipartidista para permitir que las enfermeras registradas altamente calificadas desempeñen un papel más amplio en el cuidado de nuestros veteranos”.
The VA published the policy change today as a proposed regla. Habrá un período de comentarios de 60 días sobre la reglamentación, después del cual la regla puede entrar en vigencia.
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