VA Is Cutting Critical Jobs and Crippling Care at SF VA Medical Center

Most VA doctors and nurses don’t spend their lunch hours attending rallies in front of their hospital or clinic.  They’re too busy charting, catching up on research, or reaching out to patients.  On Wednesday January 15th,  however, about 50 nurses, physicians, and other employees at a protest in front of the San Francisco VA Medical Center on Clement Street.  They were there because, they argue, cuts in staff implemented by the Trump administration are crippling their ability to care for patients.

“It’s like we’re caring for patients with two hands tied behind our backs,” an internal medicine physician told Suzanne Gordon in a new piece for Beyond Chron.  “They have implemented a hiring freeze here.  We can’t fill positions that were vacant because they’re frozen.  We lost a Whole Health Coach position; we’ve lost people who do scheduling of patient appointments.”  These appointment schedulers are critical positions, the doctor explains. They’re the ones who make needed appointments and remind vets to actually show up for them.

Gordon spoke at the rally, and covered it, reporting on the hospital’s internal machinations to detail the dangers of VA Secretary Doug Collins’ personnel attacks across the nation.

Read her full dispatch here.