Why Change VA Hospital Medical Staff Bylaws?

Assuring that the nation’s military veterans have ready access to quality health care is one of the federal government’s most important obligations. As President Abraham Lincoln eloquently stated in his second inaugural address at the close of the Civil War, the nation must care “for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.” Lincoln made no distinction between those who had borne the battle or the widows and orphans the nation would care for. This is why fairness and impartiality, known as equity of care, has long been a cornerstone of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health System.

Recently, however, directed changes to VA hospital medical staff bylaws have caused concern that a crack might be forming in the foundation of equity that undergirds veterans’ health care. Attention was called to these changes last week in an article in The Guardian. The article reported that VA headquarters directed changes to hospital medical staff bylaws, deleting language stating that clinicians shall not discriminate based on national origin, marital status, politics, disability, membership in a labor organization, or other criteria unrelated to professional qualifications. These changes were ordered despite established processes that require proposed bylaw changes be reviewed and approved by the hospital’s medical staff before being adopted. In a new analysis for the American Prospect, Ken Kizer, a Navy veteran and the former undersecretary for health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, digs into the worrying precedent set by these new changes. Read his full piece here.