Task force charged with overhauling veterans health care

The executive order also requires Veterans Affairs to fund and support the task force. The task force must issue a report within two years. Labor union officials testified during a that the quality of the Veterans Affairs' health care system is suffering because of shortages in its nursing staff and increased outsourcing. From 1995 to 2000, Veterans Affairs reduced its registered nurses by 10 percent, licensed practical nurses by 13 percent and nursing assistants by 30 percent. Since then, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses have taken on much of the work performed by nursing assistants, such as helping patients eat and bathe. The President's order "doesn't necessarily name staffing as a problem, but you would have to look at staffing as one of the problem areas," said Alma Lee, president of the American Federation of Government Employees National Veterans Affairs Council. AFGE is the largest federal employees' union. Lee said union members should be included on the task force. "I think our bargaining unit employees can help solve the problems because they see the problems every day, but we can't correct them without approval from the higher-ups," she said.