By Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early in The American Prospect
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been suffering from continuing staffing shortages at the nation’s largest public health care system, which has hampered the ability to directly care for veterans. But under President Biden, the VA has decided to deal with this problem by contracting it out.
The VA-run Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has just unveiled what it calls an “Integrated Critical Staffing Program” (ICSP). The acronym may be new, but the “staffing solution” behind it is not: Like many employers, the VA is turning to private-sector “temporary staffing” agencies.
In early September, D.C.-based GDI Consulting touted this news to current and future clients seeking to “capture enterprise-level government contracts.” As GDI reported, there is now a “$23 billion opportunity up for grabs” for those who provide key human resources functions, like “recruitment, retention, and staffing,” which are now handled in-house by the third-largest federal department.
Read the full investigation of this dangerous staffing initiative here.