Press Releases

Congressman Brad Wenstrup (OH-2), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, has introduced legislation (H.R. 5526) to enhance employee recruitment and retainment strategies at Veterans’ Affairs (VA) medical centers.

Due to increasing demand, an aging workforce, and private sector competition, among other factors, the VA is facing a significant staff shortage. However, under current hiring processes, attracting highly-qualified candidates to fill these positions is a major challenge.  These processes are often lengthy and/or inefficient, driving would-be employees to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

H.R. 5526 seeks to address recruitment and retainment challenges in several ways:

• Creates a single, system-wide database of vacant positions at the VA where eligible candidates can be considered for multiple jobs
  

• Codifies VA’s “Pathway Program” to identify and recruit young talent

• Streamlines the process for reemploying good, former employees who voluntarily left the VA

• Modifies the annual report on staffing shortages to include statistics for both clinical and nonclinical occupations within each Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN)

• Directs VA to develop a standardized exit survey for employees who voluntarily leave in order to evaluate and improve the agency’s structure

“VA needs to be recruiting the best and brightest to serve our nations’ heroes,” said Wenstrup. “These commonsense reforms will tailor the VA’s hiring practices and strategies to meet their own staffing needs and the needs of our veterans.”

Upon introduction, H.R. 5526 was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee for further review.

More information on H.R. 5526, including the bill text, can be found here.

###

Office of Representative Brad Wenstrup