VA Staffing Issues - How will you be impacted? Important to know.

VA Staffing Issues - How will you be impacted? Important to know. #va #disability #benefits

Thousands of workers leave the VA amid a flood of new cases and quota demands
Claims processors with the Department of Veterans Affairs say a rigid quota system pits their livelihoods against the veterans they signed up to help.

Claims processors with the Department of Veterans Affairs say they have strained to keep up with a flood of new cases brought on by the PACT Act and an existing quota system that pits their livelihoods against the veterans they signed up to help as a growing number of the processors leave the job.

The PACT Act expanded benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances when it was enacted in August of last year. But that has stressed the VA workers tasked with moving cases along amid a backlog, mandatory overtime, inadequate training and quota demands, according to two former claims processors and four current processors who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

The processors were struggling to manage the workload even before the PACT Act, with more than 2,000 having resigned or retired since 2020. The number of departures has grown each year, data shows.

“The PACT Act came in like a bull,” one of the current processors said. “Morale is on the floor.”

VHA more than doubles FY 2023 workforce growth target, ramps up HR hiring

The Veterans Health Administration far exceeded its hiring goals for fiscal 2023, and is retaining health care workers at levels it hasn’t seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VHA, however still faces shortages of health care workers in rural areas, as well as a shortage of mental health care professionals across the country, and will focus its hiring efforts on filling those gaps later this year.

VHA grew its workforce by 7.4% in fiscal 2023 – more than double its 3% goal for FY 2023 – and saw a net increase of 28,233 new employees.

Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said the agency in FY 2023 saw its highest rate of workforce growth in more than 15 years.