Analysis of the Agency's Policies, Procedures, and Plans Regarding Unions, Privatization, Pensions, and Productivity

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was founded in 1930, and today, “operates one of the largest health care delivery systems in the nation, with 168 medical centers and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities organized into regional networks” (GAO, 2017). The VA employs nearly 350,000 people at its facilities and serves approximately 9 million veterans each year (VA, 2017).

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, there are more than 1,500 locations to receive treatment and care across the country, which divides up to approximately 30 locations per state. The lack of locations may limit some veterans from receiving the care they desire. “Veterans who utilize VA services have worse health status that the general population” (Nelson, Taylor, Lurie, Escarce, McFarland, & Finn, 2011). This implies that the services offered are not sufficient enough to meet the needs of veterans. According to Jack Downing, President and CEO of Soldier On, “Seventy percent of veterans drive twenty-five miles or more to a VA facility.” These facts prove that we need more access for veterans so that they can get the

In the past few years there has been increasing discussion about how to provide adequate care for the increasing number of veterasn who are eligible for care through the Veterans’ healthcare administration (VHA). There are concerns is that the VHA is not providing the level of access, efficiency, and quality of care that veterans expect. Lee & Begley, (2016) suggest access to care for the veteran population may be resulting in poor health outcomes. In response to these concerns, the Veterans ' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act (VACAA) of 2014, also known as the Veterans Choice Act, was created to improve Veterans’ healthcare. The VACAA proposed to do this by expanding the number of options veterans have for receiving healthcare, by providing access for healthcare at non-VA care centers as well as providing for an increase in staffing at VA facilities (U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016).

The objectives for the desired outcomes is to ensure that every veteran, regardless of which war, receives the proper care and treatment of their ailments. This is to include housing our homeless veterans in complexes in which they will feel safe, yet give them the freedom they need to work on their journey of healing. In the process, the veterans families that are affected must not be forgotten as

One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.” The VA, who was formerly called the Veterans Administration, was established 21 July 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA encompassed the functions of the former U.S. Veterans ' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective 15 March 1989 (V.A.)

Our VA is a great place to work overall.  I feel most people work there because they love working with and caring for Veterans.  It is our duty to promote well-being and happiness so we can recruit and retain the brightest and most talented people.  The VA has a good retirement program and benefits package and it is what initially entices non-physician applicants at first.  The application process is a bit complicated and our HR does not do well in the communication part of the process.  Once employees are hired on, which can take several months, they are usually pretty happy.  Physicians and nurses are boarded, there is a very detailed algorithm used to determine their grade and step, which ultimately calculates their fair

We aim to be a door from institution to employment in home repair for motivated Veterans:

With Veteran's Day coming up, it is time to consider the impact that funding cuts are having on our veterans. Funding for a variety of veteran's issues typically comes through the federal Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA). There have been instance recently where budget cuts have reduced the quality and quantity of state-funded memorial services for veterans (Brunswick, 2012) and cut access to service dogs for PTSD veterans (Dolak, 2012).

In July 2015, Secretary Robert McDonald introduced the MyVA Integrated Plan (MIP). The MIP focuses on giving Veterans greater control over provided services, modernizing VA by focusing on the organizational culture, processes and capabilities with the intent of providing a seamless, unified Veteran experience across the entire organization and throughout the country. One of the MyVA Initial Priorities is Performance Improvement, which is inextricably tied to the VA Strategic Objective of increasing customer satisfaction through improvements in benefits and services delivery policies, procedures and interfaces. In order to enhance service delivery, improve the employee

Prior to the 1950s, American public sector workers could not join unions. Because of job security and reasonable benefits, it was considered unnecessary for public sector workers to unionize and collectively bargain with their government employers. However, in 1958, Robert F. Wagner, then mayor of New York City, signed an executive order granting city workers the right to unionize. Other local and state legislators followed suit, allowing public sector workers the right to join unions. In 1959, the state of Wisconsin passed the first state law granting the right to public sector collective bargaining after extensive campaigning in the state by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Fraser & Freeman, 2011). And in 1962, President John F. Kennedy granted federal employees the right to unionize and collectively bargain. Since then, the expansion of union activity in American government has closely mirrored the decline of union influence and strength in the American private sector (Masters, Albright, & Gibney, 2010)

Current funding for veteran healthcare care is low and insufficient because of the large number of veterans, who are being discharged from the military as the country transitions to a democratic President. According to Dr. Rachel Nardin in her article about veteran healthcare, “Soldiers get excellent acute care when injured on active duty, but as revelations of poor conditions for soldiers receiving ongoing outpatient care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted, service members often have trouble getting the care they need once active duty ends” (Nardin 1)

About 25% of these veterans have been looking for employment for more than a year. the percent was at 15.2% by 2011. That's a big drop 62.8%. On 2013 it was able to drop to 10%. Walmart also pledged to give one hundred thousand veterans jobs! Starbucks also launched a nationwide plan to hire ten thousand veterans by the end of 2018.

One of the VA’s biggest issues right now is in regards to Quality of Care and Customer Satisfaction. Targeted media leaks and Congressional Testimony has shown how varied the opinion of care is. Some Veterans are happy with their care and statistics have borne out that of the senior population, Satisfaction with care has held at a stead 68% (Rachel Yehuda, 2015). These studies however are not taking into account those Veterans who

It’s possible to distinguish higher levels of employment among female veterans than female non-veterans. In fact, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (2016) reports that around 34.2% of women

Currently, our country needs to do more to employ our veterans. From a survey conducted by IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America), 8% of 1500 vets who took the survey reported