Raul Ruiz

I want to thank our colleague, Rep. Noem, for shining a light on the concerns at IHS, and bringing this legislation forward.

Flexibility in managing this segment of the medical workforce has been a top priority for the Secretary.

VVA supports enactment of this common-sense legislation.

Absolutely. I will be quick. Congressman Newhouse, your bill, my understanding is that all emergency departments are, need to function under EMTALA.

I appreciate your willingness to work with me on this issue.

H.R. 4150, the VA Emergency Medical Staffing Recruitment and Retention Act, will provide emergency department staff employed by the VA the same flexibility offered to physicians in the private sector.

We were the ones that discovered that aspirin was important for heart disease, first liver transplant, first implantable pacemaker.

Yesterday was a very important day in my family's life. I have been the happiest man for 2 years, ever since I married my wife Monica and, also, the birth of Sky and Sage, my twin daughters. They are here with me today. We celebrated their…

I am concerned that requiring 'is not less than' would likely lead to confusion and potential abuse within the department.

The inclusion of other medical professionals other than emergency physicians will only continue to ensure veterans receive the efficient, effective and continuous care that they deserve.

I think we need to take pause and throw out a big caution out there. Many of our veterans are working poor, are retired, or work in rural areas.

$50 co-pay for urgent care, $100 in co-pay for the emergency department is completely a barrier that will continue the burden of illness and disease that they already have.

Urgent care was a result of a failed primary care system where people weren't able to access their primary care so they needed a quick in and out type of thing.

We need to look at the cracks that the Choice Act has left behind or the cracks within the Choice Act because these are the cracks that our veterans are falling through.

Thank you, Chairman Benishek, Ranking Member Brownley, for holding this series of hearings centered on VA's proposal to consolidate community care.

I have an idea I wanted to test with you in terms of the need for more affordable housing.

There are a lot of veterans out there that don't know these services exist.

We are all very proud of you.

We must not overlook the well of expertise we have right here in this room, right here in our home and in our communities.

Our veterans sacrifice so much for this country. They are the men and women who left their homes, families, and careers to defend our American values.

It is very important that we do this in a bipartisan way, and it is very important that the people see that in order to be an example of what we can do together when we eliminate the hyper-partisanship and start working together to get…

Simplifying and improving the process for veteran seeking community care remains at the top of my priority list

Our veterans deserve access to a high-quality healthcare system and not subject it to one that is bogged down in personnel issues like this.

We need to change the culture of the VA to be more veterans focused.

I was appalled to learn of the inspector general's report that concluded Ms. Rubens and Ms. Graves inappropriately used their positions of authority for personal and financial gain.