Terri Sewell: “Today I rise in support of bipartisan work to enhance recruitment and retainment strategies at VA medical centers. While…”

“Today I rise in support of bipartisan work to enhance recruitment and retainment strategies at VA medical centers. While we focus on strengthening the VA workforce, we must also focus on making sure the geographic diversity of our VA workforce is reflective of the veteran patient population and that rural populations are adequately represented. I thank Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz for working with me on this critically important amendment and for their dedication to our Nation's veterans. My amendment is simple. It allows the Secretary to select eligible employees for the fellowship program who represent or service rural communities in order to alleviate the systemic burdens of rural healthcare workforce shortages for our Nation's veterans. In order to best serve our Nation's heroes from rural America, we must invest in training VA workers who understand the unique needs of rural America. This amendment would help ensure that veterans who are serviced by rural VAs have access to the most cutting-edge healthcare industry procedures and practices. My amendment also helps address an issue that is indicative of a larger systemic issue in rural America where healthcare workforce recruitment is a barrier to improved population health. Workforce shortages, especially in health care, permeate every aspect of rural life, aggregating already long driving distances and minimal access to care.…”