"When I see this, I'm thinking hallelujah. It's the first real indicator that the VA is willing to step up and get that chapel restored, which frankly I think is their responsibility."
The Veterans Affairs Department is failing to track how many calls from its patients it is answering and what is happening with those calls, according to a flash report from the agency's watchdog, which said the failures are putting vulnerable veterans at risk. In 13 of the 15 medical facilities the inspector general reviewed, key data including caller hang up rates, answer rates and average wait times were not being tracked.
Federal agents on Saturday fatally shot a man protesting immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis. The man was later revealed to be an employee of the Veterans Affairs Department, working as an intensive care unit nurse at the medical center in the city where he was killed. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was taken to the ground by several federal agents before one of them shot him.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in his city. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died.
The Trump administration has cut over 157 open roles at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and outpatient clinics across the Bay Area. They warned that cuts will weaken the VA health care system by translating into higher strain on the medical center in the form of "longer wait times, heavier patient loads, reduced services and increased safety risks for the veterans who rely on the VA for care". The nationwide cuts were announced in December, targeting positions that have been vacant for at least a year. The VA has argued that the dissolution of these positions will not negatively affect care.
2025 was a tumultuous year that tested our resolve from federal funding cuts to local road safety and climate resilience projects, a lengthy government shutdown that caused federal workers to miss paychecks and suspended nutrition assistance programs and the loss of subsidies for health insurance premiums for those who buy their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is the mayor of Alameda.
The legislation, introduced on Thursday by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., would direct the VA secretary "to establish and implement a comprehensive policy for managing software assets throughout the Department." These steps include requiring VA to create a departmentwide software inventory and purge duplicative or inefficient services. "Major software acquisitions" would also be coordinated by the chief information officer, and the department would be directed to "adopt cost-effective licensing strategies, including enterprise-wide agreements where appropriate."
More than 20 members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and homeland security officials after the Guardian revealed the VA is compiling a report on all non-US citizens employed by or affiliated with the government agency that will then be shared with other federal agencies, including immigration authorities. The lawmakers, led by Illinois congresswoman Delia Ramirez along with congressman Mark Takano of California
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
Nine companies have won positions on a potential 10-year, $14 billion contract for a broad scope of support services to aid the Veterans Affairs Department in its ongoing health care modernization efforts. The Integrated Healthcare Transformation 2.0 contract's primary functional areas include health system transformation and innovation, implementation and operations support, health care business enabling services, and health informatics. VA announced the awardees Tuesday as the following: Agile4Vets Arrow Arc Blue Water Thinking Greenside Solutions Promethus Federal Services Reefpoint Group Rios Partners Titan-Auxo Tribility
I stirred up too much s***! Berkowitz told 7 On Your Side, adding he was appalled at the quality of food the hospital was serving. The facility wasn't even following basic health standards. They didn't care!
"President Trump believes creating non-career Schedule G positions will enhance government efficiency and accountability and improve services provided to taxpayers by increasing the horsepower for agency implementation of administration policy."
"In a June 13-dated letter to VA Inspector General David Case, Sens. Blumenthal and King called for a review of the hundreds of VA contracts cancelled by the Department of Government Efficiency."
The changes open the door to discrimination based on non-protected characteristics, allowing healthcare professionals to refuse treatment based on personal beliefs and political affiliations.
The changes seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of anything that is not legally protected," Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA's top healthcare official during the Clinton administration, told The Guardian. "Previously VA hospitals' bylaws said that medical staff could not discriminate on patients based on race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability in any employment matter."
"If there's damage that is done in the next 3.5 years with all the things that are being repealed right now, it is going to be 10 times as hard for us to get any of that back," said Dr. Kimberly Gandy.
